Tooting My Own Horn – Pat Rogers is an Arts Writing Finalist

DISPATCH – May 16, 2012 (7:20 a.m.)

SAG HARBOR, NY

This post is an exception–it’s about me. Three stories published last year at Hamptons Art Hub were submitted to the 2012 Media Awards Contest for Long Island journalists. Guess what? Pat Rogers made the cut in the arts writing division!

The Media Awards Contest is sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) Press Club of Long Island (PCLI). Story submissions focus on journalists based on Long Island or stories about Long Island. Categories include print, broadcast and online journalism.

The winners will be announced on June 7 by SPJ officials at a PCLI event. Stories were selected by out-of-state judges. Around 140 finalists were selected in over 50 categories, according to PCLI.  Organizations submitting work include Newsday, Long Island Press, News 12, Hamptons.com, Long Island Pulse and others.

I thought it would be fun to reveal the three Hamptons Art Hub stories read by the judges. Each story focused on a specific artist. They are Jacob Ouillette, Darlene Charneco and Ricardo Pascale.

JACOB OUILLETTE - “Brushstrokes of Color – Jacob Ouillette”   
http://hamptonsarthub.com/2011/09/10/brushstrokes-of-color/

“It’s a quiet show. Paintings by Jacob Ouillette occupy calculated spaces on the walls of the Remsenburg Academy. There’s a simpatico between the paintings. Each is made of measured brushes of color. The brushstrokes create compositions that hint at improvised freedom, if you settle in and look…”

Ouillette will be exhibiting his art in a three-person show at Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City from May 24 to 30, 2012.

“Horus” by Jacob Ouillette.

“Hector” by Jacob Ouillette

DARLENE CHARNECO - “Managing Memories & Pondering Connections – Darlene Charneco”

http://hamptonsarthub.com/2011/10/21/managing-memories-and-pondering-connections/

“Searching for misplaced keys or another crucial item before walking out the door is an experience most people can relate to. But what would happen if an important memory is misplaced? Would you know where to search while your brain plays hide and seek?

Darlene Charneco’s art may have a solution. Or, at least, a suggestion. Her latest works are chocked full of musing on memories and connections…”

Charneco’s art is currently on view in the group show “Urban/Suburban” at the Islip Art Museum on Long Island. The exhibition runs through May 27, 2012. Charneco is also exhibiting art at Praxis International Art in Chelsea, NYC.

“Winds of Change (New Door to the Palace)” by Darlene Charneco

“Long-Term Memory Storage B” by Darlene Charneco.

RICARDO PASCALE – “Drawing with Wood – Ricardo Pascale” 
http://hamptonsarthub.com/2011/07/20/drawing-with-wood/

“When Ricardo Pascale looks at wood, he sees potential.

He sees textures that are rough, varied and unexpected. He sees colors—some created as the bi-products of tanneries in his home country of Uruguay, he said. Other colors form naturally during the growth process or after exposure to the elements…”

“Random Waves” by Ricardo Pascale. Courtesy Boltax Gallery.

BASIC FACTS: Pat Rogers (the writer and founder of Hamptons Art Hub) is a finalist in the 2012 Media Awards Contest for arts writing. The competition is sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Press Club of Long Island. Winners will be announced on June 7, 2012.

Last year, Pat Rogers won Second Place in the 2011 Media Awards Contest for arts writing in the newspaper category. The winning story focused on a 2010 sculptural ceramics exhibition held at Surface Library gallery in Springs, NY. The show was curated by Matt Nolan. “Ceramics continue to cross over into fine art” was published by The Press News Group in June 2010.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Street Art Portrays Overlooked Beauty in Brooklyn

DISPATCH – May 13, 2012 (4:43 p.m.)

New York City, NY

Let’s get this out front: I’m a fan of street photography. I love the raw and random moments street photography can capture. Subtle beauty, quirky coincidences, the bizarre, or intimate expressions appearing unbidden are some of the treasures found by a photographer who searches among the spontaneous. The images created can reveal extraordinary moments that would otherwise be lost or pass unnoticed.

Photographers Tom Gould and Anna Delany took to the streets of their adopted home of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn to mine the world that now surrounds them. The pair is from New Zealand and they bring an outsider’s curiosity to everyday life in the New York City borough. Shooting with black and white 35mm film, some of their discoveries are on view through May 13 at the Klughaus Gallery in Chinatown on the Lower East Side of New York City.

“Two of a Kind: Tom Gould and Anna Delany” is the pair’s debut exhibition in New York. Gould and Delany are both street photographers but their attractions differ when making images.

“Coney” by Tom Gould. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Tom Gould.

Gould grew up “fascinated by the cultural movements birthed in New York,” according to the gallery.  After finding himself living in New York, he began documenting the culture that grabbed him from across the globe.

“Lineup” by Tom Gould. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Tom Gould.

For Delany, it’s the people and their implied stories that are central to her street photography.

“Some people I photograph I might know for a day, others I may end up knowing the rest of my life… It’s all the people you meet along the way which make up your experience,” Delany writes in an exhibition release.

On her website, she writes that her images reflect “…the respect which she feels for her subjects, reminding us that no one photographs something they want to forget.”

“Empty” by Anna Delany. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Anna Delany.

“Heavyweight Champ” by Anna Delany. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Anna Delany.

For the opening, the pair made limited edition playing cards to put a festive spin on things. They also appear in a video that’s posted on the gallery’s website. Set to music, the 3-minute film reveals Gould and Delany separately walking the streets and interacting with their respective subjects. Each is simultaneously a part of their environment and apart from it as they search for art, and ultimately find it.

“B Baller” by Anna Delany. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Anna Delany.

“Hells Angels” by Tom Gould. Courtesy Klughaus Gallery. Photo: Tom Gould.

BASIC FACTS: “Two of a Kind: Tom Gould and Anna Delany” is on view through May 13 at Klughaus Gallery, 47 Monroe Street, New York, NY. The gallery is open from noon to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow. Klughaus Gallery specializes in presenting artists with roots in graffiti and street culture.

Klughaus Gallery: www.klughaus.net

Tom Gould:
http://tomgouldshoots.com

Anna Delany: www.annadelany.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 05.11.12

DISPATCH – May 12, 2012 (1:24 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

This weekend feels like the hush before the storm of art openings. The next two weekends will be flush with new art shows, new galleries and openings. There’s still plenty of art to see, right now. Here are some ideas of where to find it.

HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY in East Hampton is launching the 2012 season today with a two solo shows presented simultaneously. “Timothy Bergstrom: Glound” and “Denise Kupferschmidt – Motifs” are having their opening receptions today (May 12) from 6 to 8 p.m. The show remains on view through May 29.

These are the first exhibitions in the gallery’s new location. HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY has expanded and now features two floors of art. They are located at 79 Newtown Lane in East Hampton.

This is Bergstrom’s first time exhibiting in the Hamptons. His densely textured paintings reflect his obsessions with the “…inner workings of the body, the supernatural and [are] influenced by the layered, repetitive sounds of electronica,” according to the gallery.

“Glound” is the artist’s term for his unique meshing of glue and sound. His constructions mesh hot glue, wire and paint that possess the “potential of an ungovernable noise.”

“Glound” by Timothy Bergstrom. Glue, wire and acrylic on canvas.

“Glound” by Timothy Bergstrom. Glue, wire and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 inches.

Kupferschmidt’s muses are the visual and decorative motifs found in everyday life. Transformed into contemporary culture icons, Kupferschmidt mirrors their repeated appearances through “re-occurring acts of drawing, sculpture and installation,” according to the gallery.

“Simple in technique and repetitive in appearance, these endeavors playfully display the unachievable idea of perfection or purity of form,” according to an exhibition release. ”With a mixture of modernism and whimsy Kupferschmidt’s works allow us insight to her monochromatic obsessions.”

“Kill Your Crude Idols” by Denise Kupferschmidt. Enamel on wall, 21 x 15 feet.

“Animal Motif” by Denise Kupferschmidt. Ink on book paper, 14 x 14 inches.

The Rosalie Dimon Gallery at the Jamesport Manor Inn quietly opened a new exhibition on May 4. On view are solo shows by Robert Strimban and Caroline Waloski exhibited in adjacent galleries. The Opening Reception takes place on Sunday, May 20, from 3 to 5 p.m. The exhibitions are presented by East End Arts. They remain on view through Aug 3, 2012.

Strimban may be better known for his sculpture than for his paintings. Form and color arising from nature make up the essence of his work, according to the artist.  Strimban described his art this way:  “My finished work is a visual symphony that creates a personal energy of love and excitement. I always look for that one step beyond.””

“Rivers of Joy” by Robert Strimban, 2011. Acrylic on Canvas.

Waloski’s art reflects her experiences through a myriad of shifting roles (child, daughter, sister, friend, lover, wife, mother, breadwinner). The works on view each relay a specific story rising from a mix of myth and Waloski’s memory. Positive in nature and universal in scope, many of the exhibited intaglio prints make reference to water and suggest evolution, birth, and life’s relationship to the sea.

Waloski is the director of Siren’s Song Gallery in Greenport, where she is also an artist-in-residence.

“Ancient History” by Caroline Waloski. Etching.

“El Buccinerro” by Caroline Waloski. Etching.

Bridge Gardens is exhibiting “IN BLOOM” in its Garden Room. The group show features art by members of Plein Air Peconic. All of the art has a floral theme and were selected to compliment the style of the interior space of the building/greenhouse, said exhibiting artist Casey Chalem Anderson.

“IN BLOOM” remains on view throughout the Bridge Gardens season. A portion of the sales benefit the Peconic Land Trust. Exhibiting artists are Michele Margit, Eileen Dawn Skretch, Joanne Rosko, Ellen Watson, Kathryn Szoka, Aubrey Grainger, Casey Chalem Anderson, Susan D’Alessio, Gail Kern and Anita Kusick.

“Summer Field Sagaponack” by Casey Chalem Anderson. Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches.

“Iris in the Rain” by Ellen Watson. Archival digital print. 16 x 20 inches.

“ Purple Leaf Plum Spring” by Eileen Dawn Skretch. Oil on wood, 12 x 12 inches.

BASIC FACTS: “Timothy Bergstrom: Glound” and “Denise Kupperschmidt – Motifs” are on view from May 11 to 29 at HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY, 79 Newtown Lane East Hampton, NY.  www.halseymckay.com

Solo shows by Robert Strimban and Caroline Waloski are on view through Aug 3 at the Rosalie Dimon Gallery at the Jamesport Manor Inn, 370 Manor Lane, Jamesport, NY. www.JamesportManorInn.com. Exhibits are a joint effort between the Jamesport Manor Inn and East End Arts in Riverhead, NY. www.eastendarts.org

Plein Air Peconic presents “IN BLOOM” through Oct 31 in the Garden Room at Bridge Gardens, 36 Mitchell Lane, Bridgehampton. www.peconiclandtrust.org/bridge_gardens.html

Plein Air Peconic: www.pleinairpeconic.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

People and a Promise Packs the Guild Hall Artists Members Show

DISPATCH – May 10, 2012 (10:05 p.m.)

EAST HAMPTON, NY

The opening of Guild Hall’s annual Artists Members Exhibition draws plenty of people. You can count on it. The show is a popular one for many reasons: the winner gets a solo show at Guild Hall Museum; a prestigious juror takes a considered look at all the artwork; and exhibitors become a part of a venerable Hamptons art tradition.

Then there’s the “You never know” factor. Artwork winners are always a wild card. Past winners don’t necessarily win each year. Dark horse picks have people talking. The artwork by The Top Winner (who receives a solo show at the museum) is always viewed. Crowds filled with artists, gallery owners, art lovers and art professionals pack the three galleries, the museum’s entrance hall and the brick entrance to Guild Hall.

This year was no exception. The 74th Annual Guild Hall Artists Member Show opened on May 5. The juror was Lilly Wei, an independent curator, essayist and critic who writes regularly for Art in America, Art in America.com and is a contributing editor at ARTnews.

Taking Top Honors is photographer Mary Ellen Bartley for “A Road Divided.”

Top Honors went to Mary Ellen Bartley for her photograph “A Road Divided.” 16 x 22 inches. Photo: Lauren-Baker. Courtesy Guild Hall.

The exhibition launch was standing room only until the final 15 minutes. People traffic was so thick that viewing the art is hardly possible. Here’s a slice of what it was like to be there:

Artists Eddie Rehm and Emanuel Buckvar pass out exhibition cards announcing their upcoming show at Davenport & Shapiro Fine Arts at the opening of Guild Hall’s Annual Artists Members Exhibition.

Solar gallery director Esperanza Leon, center, with her mom, Blanca Leon, and her child, Carmen McCulley, at the opening of Guild Hall’s Artists Members Exhibition.

Guild Hall’s chief curator Christina Strassfield with exhibition organizer and museum’s assistant curator Michelle Klein.

Daniel Pollera next to his painting “Ditch Plains Sunset, Montauk.” The oil painting won an Honorable Mention.

A trio of Top Honors Winners. Christa Maiwald (2011); Mary Ellen Bartley (2012) and Carolyn Conrad (2008)

Elyse Grant and Lance Corey next to Grant’s light sculpture “Fantasy Sea Flower.”

Dan Weldon next to his piece “Antarctic Landscape.” Weldon is a multiple category winner from various years. He’s submitted work into the annual show for over 25 years.

Artists María Schön and Darlene Charneco. Charneco won last year’s Catherine and Theo Hios Best Landscape Award.

Artist Andrea Cote next to her work “Body Print Mandala,” a four-plate photolithograph. Below is Darlene Charneco’s “Deep Sea Memory.”

Examining art at Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Members Exhibition.

BASIC FACTS: Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Exhibition remains on view through June 10. On May 19 at noon, Guild Hall assistant curator Michelle Klein interviews winning entrants while touring the exhibition.

Category winners are: Best Abstract: Zoe Breen (“Somera Road”); Best Representational Work: Ann Brandeis (“Conversations on Decay”); Best Photograph: JoAnna McCarthy (Old Red Truck”); Best Work on Paper: Barry McCallion (“Ladders”); Best Sculpture: Michelle Cooke (“Tilted Square 36”); Best Mixed Media: Patricia Feiwel (“Paper, Wood, Scribble”); Catherine and Theo Hios Best Landscape Award: Mark B. Terry (“Beautiful Lonely Pink One”) and Best New Artist: Kyla Zoe Rafert (“Lady-Like Behavior”).

This year’s Honorable Mentions are:

Diane Tepper (“Untitled,” Digital archival photograph); Tom Edmonds (“Floating Squares No. 6,” Oil on canvas); Philippe Cheng (“Untitled, Amagansett, 2012,” C-print mounted photograph); Rosa Hanna Scott (“House on Gardiner’s Island,” Photograph); John Hall (“Untitled Interior,” Photograph); Susan Barnett (“Stop Violence Against Women,” Photograph print); Eric Ernst (“Study for Diagrams from the Sky,” Archival print); Jim Molloy (“Paint Shop,” Oil on canvas); Daniel Pollera (“Ditch Plains Sunset, Montauk,” Oil); Christa Maiwald (“Blue Chip (Dan Flavin),” Cotton, embroidery thread); Lindsay Morris (“Matthew in Strapless,” Archival inkjet print); Joe Pintauro (“Venice 2010,” Photograph); Sara Douglas (“I Love You Forever (Words You’ll Never Hear),” Paper); Bonnie Wylo (“Sunset Bridge,” Photograph).

Winning artworks can be viewed at Guild Hall’s website (www.guildhall.org). A story revealing the art by Top Winners from the recent past will publish next week.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

EMERGE.LI Seeking Long Island Artists

DISPATCH – May 8, 2012 (7:45 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

The artist collective EMERGE.LI is spreading out and searching for artists. The Greenport-Hamptons art group held its first exhibition last winter at a Greenport gallery. Now, they’ve issued an open call for Long Island artists for two events slated for this summer.

The first event is “The Slide Slam” to be held on Sunday, Jun 17 at 2 p.m. at the Islip Art Museum. “The Slide Slam” is a collaboration between the museum and EMERGE.LI. The museum approached the group with the concept and EMERGE.LI readily agreed to partner up to create the unique event.

“The Slide Slam” is part Speed Dating and part projected portfolio review. Artists have five minutes to present their art to a panel of Long Island art world movers and shakers.

Considering the art will be curators, museum and gallery directors and an arts writer (Yes, I’m the arts writer). Organizations represented are the Islip Art Museum, the Patchogue Arts Biennial, Briarcliffe College Gallery, the Patchogue Arts Council, the Islip Arts Council, FRESH Long Island and Hamptons Art Hub. Also, “Hit The Lights.”

“Hit The Lights” is a tag team event between the FRESH artists collective of Port Jefferson and the Islip Art Museum. If you’re curious about the late-night art happening, the next ”Hit The Lights” is being held on May 12 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Around 15 to 20 artists will be selected for “The Slide Slam” by the EMERGE.LI curatorial committee. From there, some five to ten artists will be selected the first EMERGE.LI Juried Exhibition. The show takes place in July at the South Street Gallery in Greenport, NY. An opening is planned for the July 4th weekend–one of three prime weekends for the East End art season.

Jurors for the EMERGE.LI Juried Exhibition are Amy Worth, director of the South Street Gallery, and EMERGE.LI founding artist members. They are Bryan Landsberg, Ellen Wiener, Brian O’Leary, Kevin Teare, Steve Miller, Colin Goldberg, Matthew Salerno and Oliver Peterson. The co-founders of the group are Goldberg and Salerno.

To get in the running, artists are requested to provide five (5) jpegs of art to Emerge.LI. Mediums include painting, drawing, printmaking, mixed media, photography, digital art, sculpture and installation. There’s even a category for “other.”

Suggested deadline for submission is June 1 (“The Slide Slam” takes place on Jun 17 so the sooner the submission, the better). Details can be found here:
http://emerge.li/submission/

EMERGE.LI is rolling out the welcome mat for Long Island artists because that’s what they do. The artist collective formed last winter with the idea that there’s plenty of cutting edge and quality art being made on Long Island. The second idea was that enough of it wasn’t being seen on Long Island.

Over some coffee and pastry in Greenport one afternoon, the group started to solidify their direction. They wanted to connect like-minded artists and make sure areas across Long Island have the chance to see art they might not ordinarily see outside of New York City (Feel free to go to NYC, of course. Most of the EMERGE.LI founding artists exhibit in NYC and elsewhere).

Ultimately, EMERGE.LI is about sharing the artistic wealth and presenting art that’s atypical for the community. They’re starting by holding exhibitions on the East End but all of Long Island (and beyond) is a possibility, several members said.

The artist open call is the first exploration in discovering the range of art being made on Long Island. So far, there have been plenty of compelling submissions, said Goldberg. ”The Slide Slam” (and the Juried Art Exhibition opening) are open to all. The hope is that plenty of new connections will be made and interesting art will be revealed, said Goldberg.

The mission of EMERGE.LI is to encourage “…the exchange of ideas between emerging artists and those that are more established in their careers, and through the organization of exhibitions, meet & greets, and other event, take a detour from the norm.”

EMERGE.LI founding members gather in Greenport. From top left are Bryan Landsberg, Ellen Wiener, Brian O’Leary, Kevin Teare, Steve Miller, Colin Goldberg and Matthew Salerno. (Not shown is Oliver Peterson.)

BASIC FACTS: EMERGE.LI has issued an open call for artists for “The Slide Slam” at the Islip Art Museum and their first annual EMERGE.LI Juried Art Show being held at the South Street Gallery. Artists living and working on Long Island are encouraged to apply. There is no fee to do so. For details on the Open Call and EMERGE.LI, visit
http://emerge.li/

“The Slide Slam” is a new series spearheaded by the Islip Art Museum. Each installment has the museum partnering with an artist group who gathers candidates to present their work.

ISLIP ART MUSEUM is located at 50 Irish Lane, East Islip, NY. For details and for an exhibition schedule, visit
http://islipartmuseum.org/
.

EMERGE.LI members will exhibit their art in a separate gallery at the South Street Gallery coinciding with its annual Juried Show. The group exhibited for the first time together in Dec 2011 at the Terrance Joyce Gallery in Greenport. Examples of each of their art can be found on the website.

INSIDER TIP: Additional artist submissions may be considered for the EMERGE.LI juried show even after “The Slide Slam” has come and gone, said EMERGE.LI co-founder and artist Colin Goldberg. However, it’s not recommended to wait to submit art for consideration, he said.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Chelsea Night and an Art Block Party

DISPATCH – May 5, 2012 (3:35 p.m.)

NEW YORK CITY, NY

A certain Chelsea block will be filled with art lovers tonight for a street party fueled by 35 art galleries. The 26TH ST PARTY coincides with Chelsea Night, an event sponsored by Frieze New York art fair. Festivities take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at West 26th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Chelsea Night is the fair’s way of linking art fair goers with the rich Chelsea gallery scene. There are 26 Chelsea galleries exhibiting at Frieze New York, said Jane Cohan of the James Cohan Gallery. There are around 35 galleries partaking in the 26TH ST PARTY.

The 26TH ST PARTY is the Chelsea gallery neighborhood’s way of welcoming Frieze New York to the Big Apple and expressing appreciation for the outreach in “Chelsea Night,” said Cohan.

“The 26TH ST PARTY is an opportunity to come together as a community and give a festive respond to Frieze’s Chelsea Night,” she said.

The James Cohan Gallery is exhibiting at Frieze and participating in Chelsea Night / 26TH ST PARTY. Other galleries participating in both include Galerie Lelong, Harris Lieberman Gallery, Lehmann Maupin Gallery and Mitchell-Innes and Nash.

Galleries participating in the 26TH ST PARTY but not at Frieze include Pace Prints, Ana Cristea Gallery, Barry Friedman, Ltd, Mixed Greens, Ippodo Gallery, Field Projects, Rush Arts Gallery and others. A full list of participating galleries and planned festivities can be found at www.partyon26th.com.

Galleries remain open until 8 p.m. There will be food trucks and “hidden prizes inside the galleries,” according to a release. DJ Hannah Bronfman spins danceable music at 6 p.m. The band Dreamshow takes over at 8 p.m. The block will be closed to cars to transform the street into a pedestrian mall. The event concludes at 9 p.m.

The block party gives an extra advantage to art fair goers, said Cohan. Seeing a single work or two by an artist at an art fair and viewing an exhbition at a gallery are two distinct experiences, she said. Both have value and are part of the ways people view and discover contemporary art.

Art fairs allow viewers the chance to become acquainted, in one fell swoop, with galleries and artists they may not have seen before. Art displayed in booths can whet a fair goer’s appetite to see more of an artist’s work, said Cohan. Gallery exhibitions present a fuller picture of the artist’s work and can help realize the artist’s vision and intent, she said.

Installation of “Dueling Pianos (Agape Agape in D Minor)” by Mauricio Ancalmo, 2011, at James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea. Image Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, NY and Shanghai, and the artist.

Many of the galleries participating in 26TH ST PARTY for Chelsea Night are presenting an A-list of exhibitions, said Cohan. A gallery list and some of the exhibitions on view can be found at www.partyon26th.com.

Special presentations are also part of the evening. “Press Hold to Talk,” a live radio play by Cheryl Kaplan, begins at 4:30 p.m. at Andrea Meislin Gallery. Kaplan’s event coincides with the exhibition “Special Effects” by Ofri Cnaani. Artist Lesley Dill will be in-house from 3 to 5 p.m. at the George Adams Gallery, where her large-scale installation “Faith & the Devil” is being exhibited.

Partial installation view of “Faith & the Devil” by Lesley Dill exhibited at George Adams Gallery in Chelsea, NY. Photo courtesy George Adams Gallery.

BASIC FACTS: 26TH ST PARTY for Chelsea Night is being held tonight (May 5) from 6 to 9 p.m. at West 26th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. The street party is open to all. There is no admission fee. The block will be closed to cars allowing for a temporary pedestrian plaza for mingling.

The event was organized in partnership with Art Station, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and Friends of the High Line. Sponsors include Brooklyn Brewery, Artlog, The Serve, Hotel Americano and artnet.

For details, visit www.partyon26th.com.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Frieze Anchors Another Art Fair Week in NYC

DISPATCH – May 5, 2012 (1:14 p.m.)

NEW YORK CITY, NY

Art fairs are back in NYC. This time, the art festivities are clustered around Frieze New York. This is the first time Frieze is appearing in New York City. The art fair opened yesterday on Randall’s Island and continues through Monday.

One important thing to know is tickets for Frieze need to be purchased BEFORE you go. Tickets are sold online at Frieze’s website. After 1 p.m., tickets will be sold on site, said a Frieze representative. Before 1 p.m.: No ticket, no entrance. Frieze opens at noon daily.

Frieze New York is presenting some 170 exhibitors representing “the world’s most forward-thinking galleries,” according to the art fair. New York City gallery exhibitors include Gagosian Gallery, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, James Cohan Gallery, Galerie Lelong and many others.

International galleries are an important part of the mix. Some appeared at The Armory Show Contemporary held in March. These include Tang Contemporary Art of Beijing, China;  Victoria Miro of London, England; Kerlin Gallery of Dublin, Ireland; Galerie Krinzinger of Vienna, Austria and others.

In addition to exhibitors, there are Frieze Special Projects, a sculpture park, panels and special events held at the art fair and outside of it. Noteworthy are Chelsea Night and Downtown Night (See separate story).

Chelsea Night happens tonight (May 5) from 6 to 9 p.m. Downtown Night takes place on Sunday night from 6 to 9 p.m. From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Downtown Night After Hours takes place at Santos Party House at 96 Lafayette Street.

The Frieze Art Fair Sculpture Park is located on Randall’s Island beside the East River and adjacent to the fair. Artworks by established and emerging artists were selected and placed by curator Tom Eccles. On view are 14 sculptures.

Contributing artists are: James Angus; Rathin Barman; Louise Bourgeois; Christoph Büchel; Joshua Callaghan; Ryan Gander; Subodh Gupta; Jeppe Hein; Ernesto Neto; Susan Philipsz; Jaume Plensa; Tomás Saraceno; Katja Strunz and Cerith Wyn Evans.

Even if you can’t make it to Frieze, there are different ways to view the art online. Virtual Frieze, found on Frieze’s website, allows visitors to search among 1,569 artworks in multiple ways.

The art fair is uploading new photographs of the fair each day after 6 p.m. Here’s a small sampling of the images available after the first day:

Frieze New York art fair on Randall’s Island, Manhattan. Photo by Linda Nylind. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

“Geometric Mirror I” by Jeppe Hein. Frieze New York art fair on Randall’s Island, Manhattan. Photo by Linda Nylind. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

Frieze New York art fair on Randall’s Island, Manhattan. Photo by Linda Nylind. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

Here are a few views from inside the Frieze Art Fair:

“Untitled 2012 (Karmer and Newman make sausage) ” by Rirkrit Tiravanija, 2012. Frieze New York 2012. Photograph by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/ Frieze. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

“Tail” by Nicholas Hlobo. Exhibited Stevenson Gallery. Frieze New York 2012. Photograph by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/ Frieze. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

Frieze New York 2012. Photograph by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/ Frieze. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

Frieze New York 2012. Photograph by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/ Frieze. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

Frieze New York 2012. Photograph by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind/ Frieze. ©All rights reserved by Frieze New York.

In addition to Frieze, there are four art fairs currently presenting in New York City. They are NADA, Pulse, Verge and Seven.

Red Dot was scheduled to appear but cancelled at the last-minute due to “labor union disputes,” according to its website. PooL was also planning an art fair but cancelled because of “difficulties with the landlord,” according to its website.

BASIC FACTS: Frieze New York is being held at Randall’s Island in New York City from May 3 to 7, 2012. For details, visit
http://friezenewyork.com/

NADA (New Art Dealers Association) of Miami, Florida is presenting its first art fair in New York City. It’s being held from May 4 to 7 at Center 548, 548 West 22nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues). There are 60 galleries from 11 countries on view, according to its website.
http://nadaartfair.org/

Pulse usually coincides with The Armory Show but moved to tag team with Frieze. Find the fair from May 3 to 6 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street in Chelsea. This is the seventh presentation of Pulse New York. www.pulse-art.com

Verge moved back to New York City from Brooklyn to present its third New York City art fair in Greenwich Village at 159 Bleecker Street. This is the same space where Brucennial 2012 took place during Armory Week. Verge is being held from May 3 to 6. www.vergeartfair.com/

Seven is presenting a hybrid of art fair and exhibition at 191 North 14th Street in Brooklyn. Seven @ SEVEN: The Boiler features seven galleries presenting a single artist in Pierogi Gallery’s boiler spaces. Seven is being exhibited from Apr 28 to May 20. Exhibiting galleries are Pierogi Gallery, Hales Gallery, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, BravinLee programs, Postmasters Gallery, P-P-O-W and Winkleman Gallery.  www.seven-miami.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 05.04.12

DISPATCH – May 4, 2012 (6:12 p.m.)

EAST END OF LONG ISLAND, NY

Saturday’s the night for Hamptons exhibition openings. This includes Guild Hall’s annual Artists Members Exhibition. New art shows for this weekend include a solo show by John Wissemann in Greenport and a group exhibition featuring Tonalist paintings in Sag Harbor.

Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Members Exhibition has an opening reception on Sat (May 5) from 5 to 6 p.m. Members can get a preview from 4 to 5 p.m. The exhibition is open to all Guild Hall members and is judged by an art world professional. This year’s juror is Lilly Wei. Wei is an art critic, independent curator and essayist. She’s a regular contributor to ”Art in America” and is a contributing editor at “ARTnews”.

The show remains on view through June 9. Here’s an installation preview of the show:

Installation view of Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Members Exhibition. Courtesy of Guild Hall.

Installation view of Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Members Exhibition. Courtesy of Guild Hall.

“Tonalism, Trompe l’oeil and the Seven Deadly Sins” opens at The Grenning Gallery on Sat (May 5) with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Painters exhibiting in the show are contemporary American Tonalist Kevin Sanders, Tromp l’oeil painters Colin Berry and Jimmy Sanders, and painters Stephen Bauman, Melissa Franklin and Thomas Shelford. A series of bronze sculptures by Chad Fisher is a featured part of the exhibition.

Fisher’s sculpture ”…captures the enduring truth of our human foibles, in a delightfully honest and sometimes humorous demonstration,” writes gallery director Laura Grenning.

Tonalism paintings often portray backlit landscapes at dawn or twilight and impart a distinctive mood. Subtle values shifts direct viewers to the painting’s main subject, according to The Grenning Gallery. The Tonalism Movement took hold from the 1880s to around 1915, according to an exhibition release. Notable painters in the historic movement include George Inness, J.M. Whistler and Charles Warren Eaton.

The contemporary Tonalist  paintings, in conjunction with the sculpture and Tromp l’oeil paintings, develop the exhibition’s exploration of  “the beauty of nature and the beastly side of humanity,” according to Grenning. “Tonalism, Trompe l’oeil and the Seven Deadly Sins” remains on view through June 3.

“Nocture” by Colin Berry. Painting, 12 x 16 inches.

“East Hampton Beach Path No. 1″ by Thomas Shelford. Monotype print on paper.

In Greenport, “John Wissemann – ON THE COAST” opens today (May 4). It remains on view through May 28. A reception has not been planned.

For the artwork exhibited in “ON THE COAST,” Wissemann uses elements from drawings made during sketching expeditions to working waterfronts. These include Greenport, NY, Friendship, ME and Rockland Maine harbors, according to the gallery.

Lobster boats, fishing boats, docks, shanties, islands, reflections and wind ripples in the waters are combined in unique ways to make art that seems to use a matrix to anchor overlaid patterns that seem to have a whimsical feel.

Wissemann is known for his large-scale improvisations and transformations of Japanese woodcut prints. His art has been exhibited at the Farnsworth Art Museum and is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

“Harbor #8″ by John Wissemann. Etching ink and colored pencil, 24 x 20 inches.

“Harbor 3″ by John Wissemann. Mixed Media on paper.

“Harbor #4″ by John Wissemann. Mixed Media on paper, 20 x 24 inches.

BASIC FACTS: Guild Hall’s 74th Annual Artists Members Exhibition is on view from May 5 to June 9. The museum is located at 158 Main Street, East Hampton, NY. A “Meet the Winners” artist talk will be held on May 19 at noon. It will be led by Michelle Klein, who organized the show. Klein is an assistant curator at Guild Hall Museum. www.guildhall.org

“Tonalism, Trompe l’oeil and the Seven Deadly Sins” is exhibited from May 5 to early June at The Grenning Gallery, 19 Washington Street, Sag Harbor, NY. www.grenninggallery.com

“John Wissemann – ON THE COAST” is on view through May 28 at South Street Gallery, 18 South Street, Greenport, NY. The gallery is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment.  
http://thesouthstreetgallery.com/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Revealing an Emerging Art Scene in Los Angeles

DISPATCH – May 3, 2012 (5:10 p.m.)

SOUTHAMPTON, NY

Interested in the Los Angeles art scene? The Parrish Art Museum has plenty of ways to discover the artists and the influences that launched international careers and gave rise to feminist art. Artist talks, lectures and a documentary are rolling out this week at the Southampton museum.

The programs offer multiple opportunities to gain insight into the art exhibited in ”EST-3: Southern California in New York–Los Angeles art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection.” The show presents a curated selection of the extensive DeWoody art collection. The show spans 40 years of art appearing in the L.A. art scene from the late forties to mid-eighties.

‘Same Difference” by Frederick Hammersley, 1959. Oil on linen, 12 x 8.5 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

On tap tonight is “The Cool School” (or How LA Learned to Love Modern Art) is being screened tonight (May 3) at 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow afternoon (May 4) launches ”Fridays at Noon.” For the next three Fridays, select East End artists will discuss the artwork in the exhibition with Alicia Longwell, the museum’s Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education. Mary Heilmann and Ned Smyth get things started.

On Sat night (May 5) at 6:30 p.m., author Gail Levin presents a lecture “1960s Los Angeles and the Birth of Feminist Art.”

“Interlocking Forms” by Karl Benjamin, 1959. Oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 20 1/3 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

“Lux III” by Larry Bell. Multiple, silkscreen, mirror and canvas, 36 x 36 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

“EST-3: Southern California in New York–Los Angeles art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection” is a reaction to the J. Paul Getty Museum’s series of over 60 exhibitions across Southern California that considers the “emergence of Los Angeles as an art center,” according to the Parrish Art Museum. “EST-3″ has the advantage of being presented outside the area it reveals. This results in a presentation of a survey of LA art that isn’t influenced by backyard art world drama, according to The Parrish.

The exhibition is curated by David Pagel, a Parrish Art Museum adjunct curator who’s based in Los Angeles. His selections capture the beginnings of what transformed into an explosive art scene, according to an exhibition release.

Exhibiting artists include David Hockney, John McLaughlin, Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper, Helen Pashgian, Beatrice Wood, John Baldessari, Guy de Cointet and others.

“The Block Head” by Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, 1981. Concrete block, Fresnel lens system, wood, leather and transistor radio, 12 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

“Untitled” by Craig Kauffman, 1968. Acrylic and lacquer on vacuum-formed Plexiglas, 34 x 56 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

“Sandy” by Tony Berlant, 1964. Printed metal, brads and wood, 37 1/2 x 19 x 19 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

DeWoody began collecting art that caught her eye and her pastime turned into an addiction, she said during a talk that opened the exhibition.

DeWoody may be unusual in that all of the art collection is display in her homes. “I love living with art,” she said. ”I love learning how they function and relate to the other pieces.”

Many of the artworks DeWoody collected are from artists she met through her mother, DeWoody said. Early abstraction interested her immediately and she started making purchases.

“Cargo Cult” by Martha Rosler (from the series ‘Beauty Knows No Pain, or Body Beautiful’), 1965-1974. Photomontage, 40 x 30 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

“EST-3: Southern California in New York–Los Angeles art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection” presents the art in a framework of people, places and things. This arranges the expansive holdings into a viewer-friendly experience. Artworks include paintings, drawings, mixed media, sculpture, photography and printmaking.

“Untitled (Mullican Poster)” by Matt Mullican, 1982. Lead paint on paper, 62 x 43 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

DeWoody’s own thoughts on the exhibition and the process of putting it together was captured on a video that’s posted on the museum’s website.

BASIC FACTS: “EST-3: Southern California in New York–Los Angeles art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection” is on view through Jun 17 at The Parrish Art Museum, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton, NY.
http://parrishart.org/

Exhibition Tours take place on Saturdays at 2 p.m.

The Cool School” (or How LA Learned to Love Modern Art) is being screened tonight (May 3) at 7:30 p.m.

“1960s Los Angeles and the Birth of Feminist Art” will be presented by Gail Levin on Sat (May 5) at 6:30 p.m. Levin is the author of “Lee Krasner: A Biography”; “Becoming Judy Chicago: A Biography of the Artist”; and “Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography.”

Fridays at Noon in May feature East End artists discussing ”EST-3: Southern California in New York – Los Angeles Art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection” with Alicia Longwell, the museum’s Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education. Programs begin at noon. Here’s the speaker schedule: May 4 – Mary Heilmann and Ned Smyth. May 11 – Almond Zigmund. May 18 – Peter Schlesinger. Bring a lunch. Beverages will be provided.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Troves For Tough Times and Happy Endings

DISPATCH – Apr 28, 2021 (11:35 a.m.)

NEW YORK CITY & EAST HAMPTON, NY

Maria Pessino is passionate about her family, about avant garde theater, and about expressing the darker corners of life coupled with hope for change. Her latest series of artwork channel all of these qualities and more.

“Karma Kit Kaboodle” presents “troves” made by Pessino. They are currently on view at Keyes Art Projects in Chelsea. The artworks are like surrealist scenes presented in three dimensions for extra impact. Avant guard theater maven Robert Wilson described Pessino’s latest series as “…tiny stages where poetry and mystery are framed.”

"Heresay" by Maria Pessino, 2011. 16 x 16 inches.

"Lament" by Maria Pessino, 2011. 6 x 7 inches.

"Dis-Orientate" by Maria Pessino.

The art contained within distinct framing or boundaries reveal a heartfelt and personal journey Pessino experienced over the last year. Tragedy and challenges struck Pessino, her family and people close to her. She turned to art to channel the devastation and help ferry her through shock, recovery, acceptance and into peace.

"Regret" by Maria Pessino, 2011. 6 x 12 inches.

The latest troves in the exhibition make use of glass domes to reflect clarity, the lifting of the darkness, and the arrival of a lighter way of perceiving the world.

"Primate Orison" by Maria Pessino, 2012. 10.25 x 8.5 inches.

"Offspring Orison" by Maria Pessino, 2012. 10.5 x 12 inches.

“Karma Kit Kaboodle” also included a night of music where Pessino sang traditional Cuban songs from her native country. Many were sung to her as a child by her mother. Eventually, the family was pushed to relocate from Cuba and moved to Spain and then America.

The Cuban ballads were performed in the “Bolero-Filin” style, with Pessino accompanied by David Oquendo on guitar and Onel Mulet on saxophone. The songs are featured on her upcoming debut EP. Titled “Deseo,” the songs portray love: both failed and hopeful. The music is tied to the artworks exhibited in “Karma Kit Kaboodle.”

“These traditional gems of Cuban music…they are an arrow that cuts through the years of my life, immediately taking me back, without meander, to a place where the mango swells,” said Pessino. “The music takes you to a place where, even through exile and trauma, beauty and harmony are eventually restored.”

Pessino’s creativity manifests itself in art and theater. She describes her art as “hidden stories of delight for objects.” The works combine her love of narrative and  dramatic presentation into thought-provoking art that isn’t afraid to challenge.

Pessino is also a well-regarded producer and creator of avant garde performance art and theater. She’s the founder and artistic director of Oddfellows Playhouse, a not-for-profit artist’s theater company based in East Hampton. Oddfellows Playhouse produces and creates new works and presents them in alternative spaces both indoors and outside.

BASIC FACTS: ”Karma Kit Kaboodle” is on view through Apr 29 at Keyes Art Projects, 551 West 21st Street (4th floor walk up), New York, NY. The gallery is open today from noon to 6 p.m. and tomorrow by appointment.  www.juliekeyesart.com.

Maria Pessino‘s studio is in East Hampton. To see more of her art, visit www.mariapessino.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

LongHouse Reserve Opens Season with a Trio of Art Events

DISPATCH – Apr 27, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)

EAST HAMPTON, NY

There’s much to see at LongHouse Reserve this weekend. The museum, sculpture park and sprawling gardens open its 21st season with the annual “Rites of Spring Season Opening” on Sat (Apr 28) from 2 to 7 p.m. The celebratory event allows visitors to wander among clutches of vivid yellow daffodils, manicured grounds, and their extensive outdoor sculpture collection. 

Newly installed for this year is “Study for the Sun” by Isamu Noguchi and “Endless Drip” by Roy Lichtenstein. The artworks join 60 or so contemporary sculptures installed throughout the 16-acre site.

In addition, two exhibitions will be unveiled. “Diversities of Sculpture/Derivations from Nature” presents works by six artists who “…demonstrate historical traces of minimalism, conceptual, and feminist art trajectories,” according to LongHouse Reserve. The show was curated by Bonnie Rychlak. Rychlak is an artist, a former curator for the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum and the Isamu Noguchi Foundation, Inc., and an independent curator. She’s also a visiting assistant professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.

“Diversities of Sculpture/Derivations from Nature” is not a themed show. Instead, artworks were chosen to compliment or challenge their new natural surroundings, according to LongHouse. None of the exhibited artworks have ever been installed outside before.

Exhibiting artists are Ronald Bladen (1918-1988), Anne Chu, Brian Gaman, Jene Highstein, Judith Shea and Daniel Wiener.

"Checklist" by Daniel Wiener.

"Idol" by Judith Shea.

“Accumulations: NOW” is the exhibition that is pushing LongHouse Reserve into an “official” major craft exhibitor, according to LongHouse Reserve founder Jack Lenor Larsen. The exhibition features 500 works made in the last 100 years, according to LongHouse. The exhibition includes significant pieces from the collection of Dena Katzenberg (1922-2000), who was a textile museum curator and consulting curator for the Baltimore Museum of Art. One of Katzenberg’s claims to fame was bringing to prominence the Baltimore Album Quilt coverlets. They became the subject of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Artists in “Accumulations: NOW” include Anni Albers (fiber), Chunghi Choo (goldsmith) and clay artists Jun-ichi Arai, Chunghie Lee, Hans Copper, Ann Hirondelle, and Mark Leuthold. Master furniture designers included are John Houshmand, Judy Kensley McKie, and Edward Wormley.

"Totem" by Shin Sang-Ho. Included in the "Accumulations: NOW" exhibition.

The artworks unveiled this weekend remains on view until LongHouse closes in the fall.

BASIC FACTS: “Rites of Spring Season Opening” takes place on Sat (Apr 28) from 2 to 7 p.m. at LongHouse Reserve, 133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton, NY. 
http://www.longhouse.org
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UPCOMING ARTISTIC EVENTS:

June 9 – Panel discussion with “Diversities of Sculpture/Derivations from Nature” exhibiting artists and curator Bonnie Rychlak.

June 11 – The LongHouse Student Annual V.

June 23 – “Planters: ON & OFF The Ground V” opening and award presenting. Begins at 4:30 p.m. Awards are bestowed at 6:30 p.m. Judges are artist April Gornik, architect Fred Stelle and Ina Garten, of Barefoot Contessa fame (author, Food Network television host).

Aug 3 – Second Exhibition of “Accumulations: NOW.” Also, Installation preview of “Chinese Contemporary Warriors” by Yue Minjun, 2005.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 04.27.12

DISPATCH – Apr 27, 2012 (4:43 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

There’s a range of exhibitions hosting artist receptions this weekend. “Contemporary Narrative” presents five artists working in different mediums at the Southampton Cultural Center. “Shopkeepers of Southampton: Photographs by Davis Gaffga” presents portraits at the Southampton Historical Museums. LongHouse Reserve opens for the season on Saturday with a trio of artistic events (See separate post).

Further afield, East End artists are part of the second Long Island Biennial at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY. The biennial opens on Sat.

“Contemporary Narrative” at the Southampton Cultural Center presents art that implies stories. Some artworks take to the task literally by incorporation words to lead viewers into real or imagined narratives. Titles or images are other ways the artworks provide entry into tales mingled into art.

Exhibiting artists are Marcel Bally, Ann Chwatsky, William King, Kevin Teare and Adler Beegan, the name for the art pairing of Andrew Hart Adler and Carolyn A. Beegan. ”Contemporary Narrative” opens with a reception on Sat (Apr 28) from 4 to 6 p.m. The show continues through May 22. The show is curated by Arlene Bujese. All of the exhibition artwork images that follow were provided by the Southampton Cultural Center.

"Masquerade Curtain" by Ann Chwatsky.

"Esphahan" by Marcel Bally.

"Fame" by William King.

"Rhythms of the Veldt" by Adler Beegan. Mixed media.

"I Wanna Be Your Man" by Kevin Teare.

“Shopkeepers of Southampton: Photographs by Davis Gaffga” has its Closing Reception on Sat (Apr 28) at 4 p.m. at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., making the artist reception the culmination of the museum’s day and the exhibition.

Gaffga spent the last year photographing locally owned businesses in Southampton. The photographs give prominence to the owners and employees over the recognizable storefronts. The series calls attention the everyday communities shoppers and shopkeepers become a part of in a town that still can feel small and closeknit.

It’s also a way to pay homage to Southampton Village as a rare seaside community. There are plenty of new shops but there are also those that hold history. Several businesses have been in continual operation for 100 years or more. These include Herrick Hardware (opened in 1865) and Hildreth’s Department Stores (opened in 1842), according the museum. Many of the people depicted in the exhibition are as familiar as the business they represent. The exhibition photos that follow were provided by the Southampton Museums and Research Center.

"Hildreth Family" by Davis Gaffga, 2011.

"Catena's" by Davis Gaffga.

"Herricks Hardware" by Davis Gaffga, 2011.

In Huntington, the Long Island Biennial opens on Sat (Apr 28) with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. During the opening, The People’s Choice Award will have the votes tallied and the winner announced. The Long Island Biennial includes 52 artworks selected from over 200 submissions, according the museum. There are a number of East End artists among them.

Artists from the Hamptons are Emily Abramson, Monica Banks, Michael Ruggiero, Jr. and Christina Stow. The North Fork is represented by artist Marianne Weil. Three artists from Shelter Island were selected. They are Roz Dimon, Janet Culbertson and Margaret Garrett.  In addition, Garrett and Weil will be speaking on an artist panel being held on Friday, May 11, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Jurors for the Long Island Biennial are Renato Danese of the Danese Gallery in NYC; Franklin Perrell, executive director of the Roslyn Landmark Society and former chief curator for the Nassau County Museum of Art; and Richard Vaux, artist and Professor Emeritus, Department of Art and Art History at Adelphi University on Long Island.

The Long Island Biennial remains on view through Aug 12. Also opening on Sat at the museum is “Max Weber on Long Island.”

Here’s a sneak peek at a few works in the Long Island Biennial:

"Lunar Landscape" by Christina Stow. “Copyright 2010 Christina Stow All Rights Reserved”

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"Tuning Fields 250" by Margaret Garrett, 2012. Oil on linen, 60 x 74 inches.

"Amber Cuore" by Marianne Weil, 2011. Glass, copper, bronze, 10 x 8 x 5 inches

BASIC FACTS: “Contemporary Narrative” is on view through May 22 at the Levitas Center for the Arts at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane, Southampton, NY.
http://southamptonculturalcenter.org

“Shopkeepers of Southampton: Photographs by Davis Gaffga” will be exhibited through Apr 28 at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center, Rogers Mansion, 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton, NY.
http://southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org/

The second Long Island Biennial takes place from Apr 28 to Aug 12 at the Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue, Huntington, NY. 
http://heckscher.org

“Rites of Spring Season Opening” is being held on Sat (Apr 28) and opens the 2012 season of the LongHouse Reserve, 133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton, NY. There will be two exhibitions unveiled during the event: “Diversities of Sculpture/Derivations from Nature” and “Accumulation: NOW”.   
http://www.longhouse.org

"Totem" by Shin Sang-Ho. Included in the "Accumulations: NOW" exhibition.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Wild Times and Fun Bras

DISPATCH – APR 25, 2012 (9:45 p.m.)

SOUTHAMPTON, NY

Do your spirits need a lift? Ready for wild time? Like creative bras? If your answers are ‘Yes,’ then head to The Southampton Publick House tomorrow night (Apr 26) for the Reconstructed Bra Fashion Show and Auction. The annual fundraiser has artists, designers, cancer survivors and celebrities making the wildest bras possible to raise money and awareness for area non-profit organizations serving those battling cancer.

By all accounts, The Reconstructed Bra is a fun time. Ordinary (and attractive) citizens put on a creative bra, an ensemble and a smile to stroll a cat walk made for the occasion at the Southampton microbrewery and restaurant. This year, celebrity designers LeAnn Marshall and Michael Costello of Project Runway and Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy are lending their talents to the annual fundraiser. Marshall designed a dress to slip over a bra. She won Season Five of the popular television show.

The evening promises to have no shortage of feathers, beads, flowers, ribbons, tinsel, rhinestones, ruffles and more, according to event co-organizer Susan Barry Roden. The bras are closer to works of art than Victoria’s Secret, said Rosen.

Artists and gallerists who designed bras for this year’s event include Sara Nightingale, Pat Kochie, Tom Kochie, Karyn Mannix, Steven Zaluski, Casey Dalene and others.

Here’s a preview of some of the bras to be auctioned:

By Sara Nightingale

By Paula Brannon

By Pat Kochie

By Steven Zalusky

By Tom Kochie

By Pinky & Z

The Reconstructed Bra Fashion Show and Auction is a whimsical and wacky way of raising money for local breast health organizations. Benefiting are Lucia’s Angels, the Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital, and the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center. All are located in Southampton, NY.

The idea to host an evening of outrageous bras to assist those with breast cancer is the perfect pairing, said Stacy Quarty, president and co-founder of Lucia’s Angels and vice president of the Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital. The lighteness of the evening makes for an attractive way to deal with a difficult subject, she said.

The bra auction is one of several fundraising efforts for “Heaven Can Wait,” a walking team based in Southampton. Each year, the team walks in the LI2Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Participants in the LI2Day Walk for Breast Cancer walk 35 miles over two days.

The Heaven Can Wait raises money for the entire team so everyone who wants to can walk can do so, regardless of the ability to raise or pay the required donation for participation. Besides raising money together, the Heaven Can Wait team trains together so the lofty athletic goal can be safely met.

The Reconstructed Bra Fashion Show and Auction is a fun way to raise money, get pumped up for the walking event and to connect the community with a good cause.

Event Organizers Susan Barry Roden and Stacy Quarty.

BASIC FACTS: The Reconstructed Bra Fashion Show and Auction will be held on Thursday, Apr 26, at 7 p.m. at The Southampton Publick House, 40 Bowden Square, Southampton, NY. Tickets are $45 in advance or $50 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in Southampton at Catena’s Market, the Southampton Publick House and at the Breast Center at Southampton Hospital. For information on the event or to donate, call Lucia’s Angels at 631-204-9331.

Lucia’s Angels: www.luciasangels.org

Ellen Hermanson Breast Center: www.southamptonhospital.org/Services/Breast-Center/default.aspx

Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital: www.southamptonhospital.org

LI2DAY Walk for Breast Cancer: www.li2daywalk.org

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Visual Diary – deCordova Sculpture Park

DISPATCH – Apr 23, 2012 (8:05 a.m.)

LINCOLN, MA

I went on a road trip to deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum to catch the final weekend of the second Biennial of artists from the region. Meanwhile, it goes against the laws of art (if there is such a thing) to ignore the offering of sculpture installed in places that enhance the art and the nature surrounding it.

There are currently 55 artworks set on 35 acres. Contributing artists include Sol LeWitt, Nam June Paik, Roy Lichtenstein, Boaz Vaadia, Chakaia Booker, Ilan Averbuch, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Beverly Pepper, Dorothy Dehner and others.

The works range in medium, style and genre. Modern and Contemporary art are both represented. Some works are site specific; others are curated to harmonize with the landscape. Here’s a small fraction of the sculpture on view:

"Group of Three, the Pembroke Piece" by Hugh Townley (1923-2008), 1969. Concrete.

"King" by Ken Landauer, 2007. Mixed media. Linens provided by Pratesi. In the background is "Cleopatra's Needles" by Liz Glynn. The sculpture is made of wood and reclaimed pallet stock.

"Skirts and Pants (after Duchamp)" by Ilan Averbuch, 2000. Etched glass, wood. Artwork is courtesy of Nancy Hoffman Gallery (New York, NY).

"Mass Art Vehicle" by George Greenamyer, 1970. Arc welded steel.

"Sisters" by Bob Boemig, 2007. Steel, soil and myrtle. A site-specific installation.

"Bannister Trees" by Daniel Ladd. Began 1990. 11 American Liberty Elm trees. A temporary site specific installation.

"Tower (DC)" by Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), 1989/2009. Concrete block and mortar. Artwork courtesy of Barbara Krakow Gallery (Boston, MA) and the Estate of Sol LeWitt.

"Two Big Black Hearts" by Jim Dine, 1985. Bronze.

Detail of "Two Big Black Hearts" by Jim Dine, 1985. Bronze.

"Apollo" by Albert Paley, 1996. Weathering steel, stainless steel.

"ence pence" by Ursula von Rydingsvard, 1997. Cedar and graphite.

"Cones" by Ronald Gonzalez, 2006. Steel and natural materials. Site-specific installation.

"Cones" by Ronald Gonzalez, 2006. Steel, natural materials. Site-specific installation.

There were some sculptures that sparked my imagination and engaged me beyond close examination.

“Venusvine” by Richard Rosenblum (1940-1999) had me wondering if I was imagining a mythical creature of the wood folk or if it was really a sculpture.  It blended into the tree and shrub skyline as a natural element. Still, I wondered if it could be art.

The slim silhouette repeatedly called my eye…even while I was concentrating on other works. I approached the vine-like mystery from “Alice’s Garden,” a sloped garden with a stone walkway. Naturally landscaped, it has sculptures installed throughout. Only after standing some five feet away from the piece was I finally rewarded–a green informational panel revealed two things: Yes, it was a sculpture. No, it wasn’t plant material. It was made of bronze.

"Venusvine" by Richard Rosenblum (1940-1999), 1990. Bronze.

Steven Siegel’s “Big, with rift” was a favorite. A sign pointed the way to the site specific installation with good reason. The work is located in a wooded corner of the sprawling property. It’s also below ground. Walking toward the piece, all that’s visible are tops of stacks holding brush, dead leaves and the first sprouts of spring plants. Gazing into the pit, it became apparent that “Big, with rift” is made from piles of newspapers. It was like looking into a canyon and discovering a natural wonder.

The elements had begun to have their way with the dead issues of the “Worcester Telegram and Gazette.” Sunshine had yellowed the crevices in the towers of crisscrossed paper. I worked for newspapers for around 14 years. The installation made me glad that someone’s discarded stories had gone to a better purpose than refuse in a landfill, bird-cage liner, fish wrap or material to stuff around precious objects when shipped. My connection to the material wasn’t the only reason I connected with the installation. Viewing “Big, with rift” was like taking a walk in the woods and accidentally discovering a secret rock formation that is special to those who know about it.

“Big, with rift” is probably getting better with time. The transformation gave rise to an array of colors and captures different states of decay while being a vital part of a living and natural world. The texture mirrored the stone walls that surround it. Blue from headlines and photographs on the top of the “split page” reminded of the importance that newspapers once had as the sole harbinger of news.

Walking through the “rift” was a harrowing experience. The passage was wide enough to pass through but not without brushing against the canyon created by paper. Decay was close. It was uncomfortable.

Gazing at “Big, with rift” from above and from alongside, I found the installation beautiful and in harmony with its natural home.

Approaching "Big, with rift" by Steven Siegel, 2009. Paper and flora.

"Big, with rift" by Steven Siegel, 2009. Paper and flora. Site-specific installation.

Detail of "Big, with rift" by Steven Siegel, 2009. Paper and flora. Site-specific installation.

“Humming” by Jaume Plensa grabbed my attention while driving into the park. A closer look did not disappoint. The sculpture is regal from afar and near. Seemingly channeling a mythical goddess from literature, the white marble etched with silver linings gave rise to the musing that wishes or wrath could be issued from this sublime creature. The slim and elongated profile conjures the sensation of being brought into the presence of an oracle or a delicate (yet steely) creature not of this world.

The title brought my musings back to earth. Who knew that even a goddess likes to pass the time humming a melody?

"Humming" by Jaume Plensa, 2011. Marble and lead. Artwork courtesy of Galerie Lelong (New York, NY).

"Humming" by Jaume Plensa, 2011. Marble and lead.

"Humming" by Jaume Plensa, 2011. Marble and lead. Artwork courtesy of Galerie Lelong (New York, NY).

Nearby, a bit of horror awaited. Tucked into a shaded wood was “Armour Boys” by Laura Ford. The installation is made up of five bronze figures of children swaddled in armour and prostrate by death. Tender and intimate, their gestures reveal a search for comfort in their final moments. Their childlike postures belie the steely armor that marks them as warriors for a King’s cause.

Their far-flung placement in a nearly hidden wood is wrenching. These are the ones left behind. There is no witness that can retrieve them.

"Armour Boys" by Laura Ford, 2006. 5 figures, bronze, Edition 1/5.

Detail of "Armour Boys" by Laura Ford, 2006. 5 figures, bronze, Edition 1/5.

Detail of "Armour Boys" by Laura Ford, 2006. 5 figures, bronze, Edition 1/5.

“Requiem to the 20th Century” by Nam June Paik (1932-2006) was another favorite. Visually, the work is a bit startling with an aggressive silver dousing a 1936 Chrysler Airstream Sedan. A white suspended panel seems to be a cross between a bandstand cover and a wavy acoustical panel. Its motionless flapping was intriguing.

I found the beauty in “Requiem to the 20th Century” through my ears first. Mozart’s final (and unfinished) composition “Requiem in D minor, K.626″ plays continually and floats across the natural surroundings. Video panels replaced the windows in the windshield, the passenger side and the rear (but not the driver’s side windows, which are part of the silver-colored surface). Images looped continually. Some seemed like a GPS having surrealistic dreams that sometimes turned psychedelic.

The contrast between the lofty classical music and the hard, practical edges of technology beckoned and asked for time to ponder the multiple meanings in the sculpture.

"Requiem to the 20th Century" by Nam June Paik (1932-2006), 1997. 1936 Chrysler automobile, video, audio, monitors and speakers.

The natural beauty found at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum was also compelling. The combination of landscaped park, the nearby pond and the natural surroundings made it an incredible place to see sculpture.

View of Flint's Pond from the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA.

BASIC FACTS: The deCordova Sculpture Park is open daily from dawn to dusk. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A Cell Phone Audio Tour is available to provide insight into each artwork in the park and the museum. Recorded speakers include curators, gallery owners, art scholars, educators and the artist. In-person tours are also offered. For details, visit www.decordova.org.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 04.20.12

DISPATCH – APR 20 (9:20 a.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

Artists from the Hamptons are congregating in several exhibitions opening this weekend. Harper’s Books in East Hampton is presenting a show of area artists–many who have exhibited at the Parrish Art Museum. Tripoli Gallery in Southampton gathers a slew of artists making printed works. Many artists are from the Hamptons or known to area art fans. Surface Library returns to its former gallery stomping grounds in Springs to present East End artists working in new or in unexpected directions.

Also this weekend, The Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor opens its 2012 season with a hearty exhibition of established gallery artists and a few new ones. ”Rejuvenation” is designed to welcome the warmer weather and the Hamptons art season.

“i digress…” takes place at Ashawagh Hall in Springs this weekend. The show is a bit of a landmark since Surface Library closed its Springs Gallery last year and reopened in Chelsea in New York City. The gallery is poised to move again–this time to Long Island City. In the meantime, gallery owners James Kennedy (geometric and abstract painter) and ceramicist Bob Bachler decided to revisit the past with a weekend-only show of area artists.

“i digress…” has its opening reception tonight (Fri, Apr 20) from 6 to 9 p.m. at Ashawagh Hall, 780 Springs-Fireplace Road, Springs, NY. The exhibition continues through Sun (Apr 22). The gallery is open on Sat from noon to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Exhibiting artists were requested to present work from their past or present that departs from their artistic norm. The works selected reveal ”a different facet of their artistic process not previously not viewed in public,” according to a release.

Exhibiting artists are Abby Abrams, Sydney Albertini, Bob Bachler, Joe Eschenberg, Brian Gayman, David Geiser, Eunice Golden, Barbara Groot, John Haubrich, Teri Kennedy, James Kennedy, Bill Kiriazis, Mary Antczak, Joan Kraisky, Dennis Leri, Elizabeth, Levine, Fulvio Massi, Steve Miller, Linda Miller, Matt Mulholland, Matt Nolen, Mark Perry, Tim Roepe, Bonnie Rychlak, Irys Schenker, Jerry Schwabe, Thomas Shelford and Ted Tyler.

"How Happy Is He" by John Haubrich. Collage: Acrylic, paper and pencil on canvas, 30 x 22 inches. The artwork integrates the poem "The Character of a Happy Life" by Sir Henry Wooton (1568-1639), a British Poet and Diplomat.

"Montauk Cliffs No. 3" by Thomas Shelford, 2012. Monotype print, 1 of 1, 6 x 8 inches.

Drawing by David Geiser.

"Love of Claude" by Irys Schenker, 2012. Colored pencil on paper.

Harper’s Books in East Hampton is opening “Group Therapy” on Sat (Apr 20) from 6 to 8 p.m. The group show centers on artists working on the East End of Long Island. Artworks include paintings, photography and mixed media. ”Group Therapy” remains on view through May 21.

Exhibiting artists include Linda K. Alpern, Mary Ellen Bartley (courtesy of The Drawing Room), Philippe Cheng, Peter Dayton, David Diskin, Jameson Ellis, Sunny Khalsa, Laurie Lambrecht (courtesy of The Drawing Room), Liliya Lifanova, Steve Miller, Peter Sabbeth, Matthew Satz, Bastienne Schmidt, Michael Solomon, Kevin Teare, Ross Watts, and Nick Weber.

"Blooming Demand" by Steve Miller, 2012. Pigment dispersion and silk screen on canvas, 61.5 x 107 inches.

Tripoli Gallery in Southampton opens the 2012 season with “Footprints.” The group show is curated by Tripoli Patterson and Sven Hokanson. An artist reception is being held on Sat (Apr 21) from 5 to 8 p.m.

In describing the exhibition, Hokanson said: “Through deaths and new beginnings the creative passion is what maintains the forward motion of human progression. Here we look at the simple form of leaving a mark by the use of prints and printmaking.”

Patterson commented, “Footprints. They are the marks that are left behind; the trail leading from youth to adulthood; the connection of the past to the future; an exhibition that shares the journey of these native East Enders, their families and their friends.”

Exhibiting artists include Linda K. Alpern, D/M Art, Joel Fitzpatrick, David Gamble, Hans Hokanson, Tara Israel, Roy Lichtenstein, Dave Matterhorn, Kim Matulova, Robert J. Miller, Jonathan Nastasi, Max Price, James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Enis Sefersah, Nathalie Shepherd, Caroline Snow, Gordon Stevenson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Michele Tarantelli, Nick Weber, and Yung Jake.

David Matterhorn: From the Dash Series by David Matterhorn, 40 x 40 inches.

"Mt Carmel" by Caroline Snow. VHS Print, 20 x 30 inches.

David Gamble: Part of new series inspired by the streets of New Orleans. 27 x 40 inches.

Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor is opening its 2012 season with “Rejuvenation.” An opening takes place on Sat (Apr 21) from 6 to 8 p.m. The group exhibition presents diverse mediums and artistic interest.

Artists include Jeff Aeling (Oil on Board),  Jhina Alvarado (Encaustic),  Robert Green (Mixed media on paper), Harriet Sawyer (Oil on canvas), Kevin Sloan (Acrylic on canvas) , Dan Vandandingham (Acrylic and mixed media on Canvas), and Bart Vargas (Found objects, painted and resin coated). The show continues through mid-May.

"It's All Fun and Games" by Jhina Alvarado. 30 x 40 inches.

"Sunset at Long Beach" by Jeff Aeling. Oil on Board, 34 x 48 inches.

"Eye of The Beholder" by Harriet Sawyer. Oil on canvas, 54 x 54 inches.

"The Epicure" by Kevin Sloan. Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 36 inches.

BASIC FACTS: “i digress…” is presented by Surface Library at Ashawagh Hall, 780 Springs-Fireplace Road, Springs, NY. www.surfacelibrary.com

“Group Therapy” is presented by Harper’s Books, 87 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY.  www.harpersbooks.com

“Footprints” is presented by Tripoli Gallery, 30A Jobs Lane, Southampton, NY. www.tripoligallery.com

“Rejuvenation” is presented at Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY. www.rjdgallery.com/openings

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Bruce Davidson - Subway

Reblogged from surface & surface:

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I went to see the Arnold Newman exhibition at the C/O in Berlin last weekend.  It was pretty mind-blowing to see what he achieved but what I didn't expect to see was the Bruce Davidson 'Subway' exhibition that was on in the gym room.  Bloody great urban photography.  Bruce immersed himself in the 'raging, rattling hustle and bustle' of the subway system in New York during the 1980s, documenting the passengers in this filthy, graffiti ridden melting-pot, photographing lovers, musicians, homeless people, tourists and business people.

Read more… 77 more words

I love these images of subway riding in New York City. The photographs are on view in Berlin at C/O Berlin through May 20. Bruce Davidon's Subway series was published in 1986 by Aperture, according to Magnum Photos. Davidson became a  Magnum photographer in 1959. He has several photography books to his credit. Davidson's Subway series "...garnered critical acclaim both as a document of a unique moment in the cultural fabric of New York City as well as for its phenomenal use of extremes of color and shadow set against flash-lit skin," according to www.magnumphotos.com. "In Davidson’s own words, “the people in the subway, their flesh juxtaposed against the graffiti, the penetrating effect of the strobe light itself, and even the hollow darkness of the tunnels, inspired an aesthetic that goes unnoticed by passengers who are trapped underground, hiding behind masks, and closed off from each other,” according to Magnum.

Affordable Art Fair Puts Success On View

DISPATCH – Apr 17 (11:31 p.m.)

NEW YORK CITY, NY

If you’re jonesing for an art fair, the Affordable Art Fair (AAF) may be just the ticket. AAF arrives in New York City this week presenting art with friendly price tags. A Private Preview will be held on Apr 18. The fair opens to the public on Thursday (Apr 19). It continues through Sunday (Apr 22).

AAF includes installations, art talks and artworks presented by galleries from across the globe. Around half of the art is priced below $5,000.

Karyn Mannix Contemporary at AAF. Booth # F6. Photo by Karyn Mannix.

This year, AAF is featuring a 10-year Retrospective of School of Visual Arts (SVA) graduates who have gone on to find success in the art world. SVA student artworks have been part of AAF for the past 10 years, according to a release.

Art from the Hamptons art will be there too. Karyn Mannix Contemporary is bringing several top-notch artists to AAF. This is the first time the East Hampton-based dealer is participating in the Affordable Art Fair.

AAF held its first fair in 1999 to present art with prices that allows everyone to become an art collector. Prices in this year’s fair range from $100 to $10,000, according to a release. Around half is priced below $5,000. The point of AAF is to “demystify the art-buying experience, making it both welcoming and fun.”

This year’s fair has around 75 galleries from the United States and abroad. The international galleries are based in London, Toronto, Montreal, Paris, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Barcelona, Sao Paolo, Berlin, Brisbane, Brussels, Hanoi, the Gold Coast of Australia, Chelmsford, UK and other cities.

Galleries in the United States come from New York City (NY), Laguna Beach (CA); Park City (UT); Albuquerque (NM); Seattle (WA); Portland (OR); Greenwich (CT); San Francisco (CA);  Shelburne Falls (MA) and other locations.

Here are a few artworks that are part of the fair:

"My Mother's Country" by Anna Price Pitjara. Exhibited Cicada Aboriginal Art Gallery (Brisbane, Australia). Courtesy AAF.

"Curare" (detail) by Damien Hirst, 2012. Woodcut spot print, Edition of 55, 18 x 18 inches. Exhibited Manifold Editions (London, UK). Courtesy AAF.

"Mr Much too Much" by Anna Barlow. Ceramic. Exhibited Bicha Gallery (London, UK). Courtesy AAF.

"Annunciation 2" by Marie Danielle Leblanc. Mixed Media. Exhibited Elisa Contemporary Art (Riverdale, NY). Courtesy AAF.

Karyn Mannix Contemporary of East Hampton is presenting paintings by Grant Haffner, Steve Haweeli and Evan Zatti. Also, digital art by Zig and sculpture by Steven Zaluski.

"Blues at 3:42pm" by Steve Haweeli. Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inches. Exhibited Karyn Mannix Contemporary.

"Nivea Hiberna Crux Crucis" by Steve Haweeli. Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inches. Exhibited Karyn Mannix Contemporary.

"Head of Pond Road" by Grant Haffner. Exhibited Karyn Mannix Contemporary.

"The Promised Land" by Grant Haffner. Exhibited Karyn Mannix Contemporary.

"Mona Trooper" by Zig (Art by Andy Leipzig). Exhibited Karyn Mannix Contemporary.

"Ascension of Television" by Zig (Art by Andy Leipzig).

The School of Visual Arts (SVA) is celebrating 10 years of exhibiting with AAF by presenting a Retrospective of students who “have made significant progress in their careers since first showing at the fair,” according to AAF.

The Retrospective presents 12 artists who have graduated from SVA. They are: Michael Bilsborough (2006); Steven Bindernagel (2006); Matthew Craven (2010); Brandon Davey (2009); Amy Elkins (2007); Daniel John Gadd (2008); Yuhi Hasegawa (2009); Cesar Chavez Lechowick (2007); Avery McCarthy (2008); Dan Perrone (2005); Amy Stein (2006) and Ivan Theorin (2009).

A panel discussion on Saturday at 4 p.m. cements the relationship between SVA and artists who are emerging. “Fair Game” will reveal the impact exhibiting in AAF had on new artists (including having their art purchased by art professionals). The panel is moderated by Dan Halm, who has curated the Visual Arts Gallery / SVA booth at AAF for the last 10 years. SVA was one of the first art schools to exhibit student artwork at an art fair, according to AAF.

Additional panel discussions and programs will be held throughout the fair. See www.affordableartfair.us/newyorkcity/spring-2012.php

BASIC FACTS:  The Affordable Art Fair – Spring 2012 will be held from Apr 18 to 22 at 7 West 34th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) in New York City. A Private Preview Party will be held tomorrow (Wed, Apr 18) from 6 to 9 p.m. The fair opens to the public on Thurs (Apr 19). AAF is open on Thursday and Friday from 2 to 9 p.m.; on Sat from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sun from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. General Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for students and senior. Children under 12 years old are free.

For an exhibitor’s list and fair details: www.affordableartfair.us/newyorkcity/spring-2012.php.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 04.13.12

DISPATCH – Apr 13, 2012 (12:30 p.m.)

HAMPTONS & NORTH FORK, NY

Seascapes, Abstraction, Conceptual and Pop art are on tap for this weekend’s new exhibitions. Saturday night is a busy one with openings in Water Mill, Sag Harbor, East Hampton and Greenport.

Sara Nightingale Gallery opens the group show “LA-X” on Sat (Apr 14) from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition presents “mostly under-recognized artists living and working in Los Angeles,” according the gallery. All were born between 1960 and 1980, making them part of Generation X (hence the exhibition title).

“LA-X” is designed to tag team with the current show at the Parrish Art Museum. On view are Los Angeles artists collected by Beth Rudin DeWoody. Works on view showcase artists or art movements from 1945 to 1980. “LA-X” begins where the Parrish Show leaves off and presents artists working in LA since the 1980s.

There are 16 artists in the exhibition. They are Sophia Allison, Leon Benn, Michael Blasi, Colin Burns, Karen Chu, Stephanie Farr, J. Bennett Fitts, Alexa Gerrity, Karl Hahn, Joshua Levine, Devon Oder, Josh Peters, Colin Roberts, Cole Sternberg, Nicola Vruwink and Annie Wharton.

Here’s a few works from the wide-ranging show:

"A Golden TV" by Cole Sternberg. Television, spray paint, 12 x 14 x 18 inches.

"Garden Ghost" by Colin Burns. Silkscreen, linocut, Thomas Guide and media on paper, 78 x 80 inches.

"Bleed (Echo)" by Devon Oder. C-print mounted and framed, 35 x 35 x 2 inches.

"Girl 1" by Josh Peters, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 20 inches.

“Art Grove: The Second Annual 14 Contemporary Artists with Music” is a one-weekend show opening tomorrow (Apr 14). Live music is part of the plan for Sat’s opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Music ranges from Motown to Disco to Hip Hop. Exhibition hours are Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The show was organized by Geralyne Lewandowski.

Exhibiting artists are Charles Waller, Tess Barbato, Michael Costello, Anahi DeCanio, Claudia Dunn, Brian Flynn, Eileen Hickey-Hulme, Cynthia Loewen, Geralyne Lewandowski, Ivi Navarrete, Michael McDowell, Joyce Raimondo, Robert Rosenbaum and Sheila Rotner.

"Hot Pink Steiner" by Geralyne Lewandowski. 29 x 19 inches.

"Hat Trick" by Charles Waller. 72 x 27 inches.

"Untitled" by Anahi DeCanio.

By Joyce Raimondo.

Tulla Booth Gallery in Sag Harbor opens “Dreaming of Summer 2″ with an artist reception on Saturday (Apr 14) from 6 to 8 p.m. The all-photography show is presenting seascapes and summer lifestyles. “Dreaming of Summer 2″ offers new works by Anne Gabriele, Daniel Jones, John Margaritis, Blair Seagram, Bob Tabor, Lynn Geesaman and Barbara Macklowe. It remains on view through May 20.

On the North Fork, the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company opens the two-person show “PURE PLEASURE: Friends, Mentors, Artists” on Saturday (Apr 14) from 6 to 9 p.m. The show features sea-inspired paintings by Cindy Pease Roe of Greenport and assemblages by David Ellis of Cape Cod, MA. It remains on view through Apr 30.

The pair are long-time friends and artists who exhibit together for the first time in “PURE PLEASURE.” Roe grew up in Cape Cod. Her first oil painting was made in Ellis’s garden studio in Cape Cod, according to the gallery.

Ellis began with landscaping paintings before focusing on mixed media and collage, according to a release. His work in influenced by the things he finds and gathers from the shorelines. The unqiue character of each found object becomes exalted in his art.

An assemblage by David Ellis.

"Lobsterland, Stonington" by Cindy Pease Roe.

BASIC INFO: Sara Nightingale Gallery is located at 668 Montauk Highway, Water Mill. www.saranightingale.com/

Ashawagh Hall is located at 780 Springs Fireplace Road, Springs, NY. Info on “Art Groove” can be found at www.artgroove.info.

Tulla Booth Gallery is located at 66 Main Street, Sag Harbor. The gallery is open Friday through Monday from 12:30 to 7 p.m. www.tullaboothgallery.com.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company is located at 234 Carpenter Street, Greenport. The Tasting Room (and gallery) are open from Friday to Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. www.harborbrewing.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Visual Diary – The Armory Show Contemporary

DISPATCH – Mar 21, 2012 (8:34 a.m.) (Part II)

NEW YORK, NY

After visiting The Armory Show Modern, the Contemporary section was next. The fair was high energy and visually-popping with 157 exhibitors to choose from. Sometimes, it felt like I was at an art carnival, with choreographed booths, art spectacle and blazing neon leading the way. Searing through was art worth noticing.

Here’s some of the booths (and art) that made me stop and stare:

Tang Contemporary Art (Hong Kong, Bangkok and Beijing, China). Exhibited in the center of the booth is "Stranger than Paradise - the Origine" by Yang Jiechang, 2011. 140 ceramic sculptures (each 15 x 20 x 10 cm), 150 glass pedestals and wooden table.

Loock Galerie booth (Berlin, Germany). "Drift 01" by Natalia Stachon was the commanding art piece. The work includes Plexiglass pipes, cords, hooks, tension belts and stainless steel pedestal.

Ambach & Rice (Los Angeles, CA). Exhibiting artists included Eric Yahnker, Grant Barnhart, Abigail Reynolds and others.

Galerie Jerome De Noirmont booth (Paris, France). The entire booth was devoted to a Special Project by Fabrice Hyber.

Mendes Wood booth (Sao Paulo) at The Armory Show Contemporary.

Galerie Loevenbruck (Paris, France) presented "Ghost Arcarde 1- VII" by Borre Saethre, 2012.

galerie bob van orsouw (Zurich, Switzerland) at The Armory Show Contemporary.

There were two pieces that drew me inside galerie bob van orsouw’s booth. Grabbing my eye first was a sculpture on the floor that looked like a racetrack for toy cars. “Imagine you are driving (sculpture 4)” by Julian Ople is made of concrete. The weight of the artwork could be felt just by looking at it. Danger felt imminent: Matchbox cars would not be welcome. 

Suspended from the ceiling was the piece “Flu, Bo, Genx, Landy, Scap, Egg, ou, ti, pris, me” by Ernesto Neto. The intriguing artwork is made from polyamide stocking, Styrofoam balls and glass beads. The longer I looked, the better I liked it. The stocking was translucent allowing the colored material inside to entice. The artwork shifted gracefully with a breeze I didn’t feel. It also implied more vigorous motion of the swinging and the bouncing kinds that would further transform the piece.

"Flu, Bo, Genx, Landy, Scap, Egg, ou, ti, pris, me" by Ernesto Neto, 2009. Polyamide stocking, Styrofoam balls, glass beads. 215 x 180 cm. Exhibited by galerie bob van orsouw.

Clusters of people at Galerie Michael Janssen had me wondering what was going on…

Galerie Michael Janssen (Berlin, Germany) booth at The Armory Show Contemporary.

The attraction was a series of large glass heads upon pedestals. The ability to peer inside to “find” the objects stuffed within provided layers of meaning and kept me thinking about the works.

Exhibited by Galerie Michael Janssen (Berlin, Germany).

Besides booths curated to draw attention, there were individual pieces that were knockouts. Here are a few artworks that I spied at The Armory Show Contemporary:

Ricardo Rendon’s ongoing art project is called “Forced Labor.” He uses material and methods of “common labor practices to his art production, mining the aesthetic from the workaday,” according to his website. Rendon’s sculptures and installations stem from the “conceptual touchstone of the work being executed by…chain gangs as being work without meaning, performed as a filler for idle time,” he writes. He’s equally interested in the creation and artistic processes used in making art.

Rendon has exhibited internationally. He lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. Here’s the single artwork I was able to see:

"Area de Trabajo (Multiple 5)" by Ricardo Rendon, 2010. Industrial felt, unique. Exhibited JGM Galerie (Paris, France).

“Alas, Hellas” by Vlassis Caniaris (1928-2010) was exhibited at Kalfayan Galleries of Athens, Greece. The mixed media sculpture is part of a series Caniaris made inspired by the plight of immigrants and migrant workers.

Caniaris is known for his socially-conscious assemblages, inspired his homeland of Greece but made while living in Germany, according to the gallery. Caniaris was born and died in Greece but spent time living and working in Rome, Paris and Berlin before returning to Athens, where he stayed until his death in 2010.

Here’s the work I felt lucky to see:

"Alas, Hellas!" by Vlassis Caniaris. Exhibited Kalfayan Galleries (Athens, Greece).

Immediately afterwards, “Dawn of new Century” by Rob Voerman pulled me in. Voerman is currently making a body of work in which he creates “the architecture of fictitious communities living in remote areas or occupying existing city-landscapes,” according to his website.

These communities are a mix of “utopia, destruction and beauty, a symbiosis of hippie-communities from the seventies, with their often highly decorated self-built structures, the cabin of the Unabomber hidden in the Montana forests, art-deco and other influences,” Voerman writes.

His work is currently exhibited in the group show “Kaleidoscope” at C24-Gallery in New York City from Mar 10 to Apr 21. At The Armory Show, Voerman exhibited with Upstream Gallery from the Netherlands, where he was born and continues to work. Currently he’s in residency at ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program) in New York.

"Dawn of new Century" by Rob Voerman. Exhibited Upstream Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

"Dawn of new Century" by Rob Voerman. Exhibited Upstream Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

Inside view of "Dawn of new Century" by Rob Voerman. Exhibited Upstream Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

Here’s a few fun artworks that I enjoyed seeing:

"Bed for Human Use" by Marina Abramović, (2012). Reenacted live. Exhibited Luciana Brito Galeria (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

"Stray Dog" by Tony Matelli, 2000. Painted Bronze, 20 x 45 x 15 inches. Exhibited Leo Koenig Inc (New York, NY).

While getting my vote for the ‘Most Uncomfortable Title,’ the next piece was subtle and a lot of fun. At first glance, it appears to be a mirror. Closer examination revealed what appears to be a dust film. Somehow, the artist had drawn lines and a partial oval into the “film” that dirties the reflection. Since it’s a mirror, this means the work always changes with the scenery around it and reflects back on its viewers.

"Pussy" by Tony Matelli, 2012. Urethane on mirror. 36 x 24 inches. Exhibited Leo Koenig Inc (New York, NY).

"Pussy" by Tony Matelli, 2012. Urethane on mirror. 36 x 24 inches. Exhibited Leo Koenig Inc (New York, NY).

BASIC FACTS: The 14th edition of The Armory Show was held from Mar 8 to 11, 2012 in New York City. There were around 228 exhibitors in the art fair, divided between Modern and Contemporary Art, according to a release. The Modern presented 71 exhibitors from nine countries. The Contemporary had 157 exhibitors, which included 19 invited exhibitors for Armory Focus: The Nordic Countries. This year saw the premiere of the Solo Projects edition. www.thearmoryshow.com/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

“On the Beach” Interprets Famed Opera

DISPATCH – Apr 7, 2012 (4:35 p.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

Right now, a team of dancers, choreographers, visual artists, performers and musicians may be holding their breath. Tonight is the final performance of a three-day run of “On the Beach” at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. “On the Beach” is inspired by the seminal opera “Einstein on the Beach” by Robert Wilson and Philip Glass. The five hour opera is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year with an international tour. (Yes, it’s five hours. No, there’s no intermission. Yes, you can move about at will.).

In addition to staging a world-wide tour for “Einstein on the Beach,” Wilson selected five artist teams to re-interpret sections of the unusual opera.  The results are playing out on the Baryshnikov Arts Center from Apr 5 to 7. Before peering into the creative interpretation found in “On the Beach,” it’s good to know something about the opera it’s based on.

“Einstein on the Beach” is an opera in four acts that are framed and connected by five “knee plays” or intermezzos. It’s a collaborative work by Glass and Wilson with choreography by Lucinda Childs. The opera centers on a historical person (Albert Einstein) but it’s his thinking and scientific processes that are dramatically presented.

The opera was groundbreaking on several fronts. Instead of traditional orchestra instruments, the music was composed for synthesizers, woodwinds and voice. Instead of narrative, the opera relies on recurrent images juxtaposed with abstract dance sequences to tell the story.

“Einstein on the Beach” premiered in 1976. The avant guarde opera was described as ”a visual feast and a sonic experience” by Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) executive producer Joseph V. Melillo in a documentary about ”Einstein.”

“On the Beach” brings together five artist teams to react and interpret sections of the Wilson-Glass opera. The artists are international. Some have never worked together. All were selected by Wilson and have been artists in residence at The Watermill Center in Water Mill, NY.

"Nothing To See Here" by Santiago Taccettii, 2011. Photo Credit: Nadia Witte.

Santiago Taccetti (visual artist, Argentina) and Manuela Infante (theater director, Chile) present a single Chilean musician who begins a “process of scenic experimentation to explore the concept of ‘perceptible and non-perceptible change’” through subtle deviations in repetition, according to The Watermill Center. Their piece may ask audiences to ponder whether their modes of perception need to change to interpret ”Einstein on the Beach.”

Jonah Bokaer (choreographer and dancer, New York City) and Davide Balliano (visual and performance artist, Italy) present a “reductive reimagining of the ‘Train Sequence’ in Act I of “Einstein on the Beach.” Themes of height, progress, locomotion and speed are abstracted from the work and set in a “fractal landscape of jagged edges” to re-imagine the scene in 2112, according to a release.

The Degenerative Art Ensemble (performance company, Seattle) translated a libretto in “Einstein” by Christopher Knowles into Japanese, Korean and Swedish and mixes it with gesture, rhythms, melodies and words. This is combined with dance, live music, animation and text to “delve into a vortex of the folding of time and space,” according to The Watermill Center.

Steven Reker and People Get Ready (choreographer, dance, musician, New York City) created “sonic landscapes through movement” and extend to let “the poetic images of Robert Wilson’s iconic staging influence how they shape sound and action,” according to a release. A “microcosm of folly and pleasure” will be created through voices, props and gestures.

Marcia Moraes (theater director, choreographer, performer, Brazil) and Egill Saebjornsson (visual artist, Iceland) brought in 10 collaborators to re-create the “knee plays” from “Einstein on the Beach.” Fragments of text, images and music from “Einstein” are deconstructed so repetition and slow changes are observable through words, meanings, notation, rhythm and physicality, according to a description. The main characters are a group of travelers inspired by “The Argonauts” from Greek mythology. The piece incorporates video projections, opera singers and original music. It also makes use of 3-D animation and aerial techniques.

BASIC FACTS: “On the Beach” is being presented from Apr 5 to 7 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 West 37th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues in New York City. Performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. The first two shows were sold out. Info and tickets to tonight’s performance can be found here:  www.bacnyc.org/events/performances/on_the_beach  “On the Beach” is presented by the Baryshnikov Arts Center and The Watermill Center.

“Einstein on the Beach” premiered on July 25, 1976 at the Avignon Festival in France. It was presented by the Byrd Hoffman Foundation. The music was performed by the Philip Glass Ensemble. The opera immediately toured to venues in Hamburg, Paris, Belgrade, Venice, Brussels and Rotterdam before traveling to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in November 1976.

“Einstein on the Beach” was revived in 1984 (BAM) and in 1992 (toured internationally). The current tour presents the opera reconstructed and produced by Pomegranate Arts Projects. The first performance was held on Jan 20, 2012 at the University of Michigan’s Power Center in Ann Arbor. The tour began with a World Premiere on Mar 16 in Montpellier, France. Stops include Italy, London, Toronto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Berkeley, CA. It will appear at BAM on Sept 14-16 and Sept 19-23, 2012. For details, visit
http://pomegranatearts.com/project-einstein/tour.html

The Watermill Center also has info:
http://watermillcenter.org/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 04.06.12

DISPATCH – Apr 6, 2012 (12:05 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

Solo shows seem to be the thing for this weekend. Gallery openings are being held for Michael Hennessy and Jake Rajs in Southampton and Salvatore Gulla in Quogue. In Patchogue, a show featuring Pop Artist Richard Smith opens tonight.

Photographer Jake Rajs has a solo show of images at the Rogers Memorial Library’s Madelle Hegeler Semerjian Gallery. Each image is saturated with color and tinged with motion. Most of the photography depicts vistas from the North and South Forks. An exhibition opening and book signing was held yesterday (Apr 5). The show remains on view through Apr 30.

Rajs has around 13 photography books to his credit. Many of the exhibited photographs are part of “Portrait of Long Island: The North Fork and The Hamptons” (2011) and “Beyond the Dunes: A Portrait of the Hamptons” (2009). Both were published by The Monacelli Press. In addition, his photographs have been featured in Time, Life, Newsweek, The New York Times, National Geographic and others.

Photographs in the exhibition depict water in motion, farm fields, icon architectural views and East End vistas captured from above. Texture, color and composition choices translate into intense artworks. Here’s but a trio:

"Wave, Sand Striations, Quogue, NY" by Jake Rajs, 2006. Archival pigment print face-mounted to Plexiglas, 27x40 edition of 12. © Jake Rajs

"Seaglass, New York" by Jake Rajs, 2010. Amagansett, Napeague Bay, South Fork, Long Island. 6511 x 2525 cm. © Jake Rajs

"Bedell Cellars winery, Lavender" by Jake Rajs. Archival canvas, Edition of 25, 20 x 30 inches. © Jake Rajs

Michael Hennessy is holding an opening reception tomorrow (Apr 7) from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at 4 North Main Gallery in Southampton. “The Hampton Spring Show” presents 22 abstract paintings by Hennessy plus ceramics and furniture from Hennessy Home. The show includes a few artworks by Mila Wilson of Springs. The show remains on view through Apr 29.

This is one of the first major exhibitions of paintings by Hennessy. For the last 20 years, Hennessy has made and designed furniture. His furniture could have been seen at his store, Comerford Hennessy at Home. It was located in Bridgehampton from 1999 to 2009. For the last few years, Hennessy has also turned his hand to painting.

His abstract works are mix of process and pattern that channels the spiritual. Motion and energy reverberate among the works.

Painting by Michael Hennessy.

Salvatore Gulla opens a solo show at the Quogue Library on Saturday (Apr 7) from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The compositions in “A Life in Art” take a ”nonobjective mode” in their presentation, according to the gallery. Gulla’s art ranges from portraiture to cubist urban landscapes to gestural abstractions, according to the gallery.

Gulla has been making art for over 40 years. He studied at the Art Students League of New York under Reginald Marsh, Morris Kantor, Vaclav Vitlacyl and other. Gulla lives in East Hampton and New York City. “A Life in Art” remains on view through Apr 29.

"South Bronx" by Salvatore Gulla. Courtesy Quogue Library Gallery.

"Tango" by Salvatore Gulla. Courtesy Quogue Library Gallery.

"Two Women" by Salvatore Gulla. Courtesy Quogue Library Gallery.

Meanwhile, further afield, Pop Artist Richard Smith is the subject of a solo show in Patchogue. “Richard Smith: Paintings and Drawings” opens tonight (Apr 6) from 7 to 9 p.m. at sPACe, also known as The Gallery at PAC Space. It remains on view through May 18.

Smith was a member of The Independent Group that “helped forge a movement that would become known as Pop Art,” according to the gallery. Artworks by members were based on consumerism and mass market appeal before Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were making waves in the artwork, according an exhibition release.

Smith’s art has been exhibited in museums around the world. His work is part of collections held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC and others.

"Border II" by Richard Smith. Courtesy sPACe.

"Avedisiane" by Richard Smith. Courtesy sPACe.

BASIC FACTS: A solo show by Jake Rajs remains on view through Apr 30 at the Madelle Hegeler Semerjian Gallery at Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton.  For details, visit
http://myrml.org/

Photography and books by Jake Rajs can be found at jakerajs.com.

“The Hampton Spring Show” takes place at 4 North Main Gallery, 4 North Main in Southampton. It’s open daily from noon to 6 p.m. through Apr 29. Michael Hennessy‘s art and furniture can be seen at
http://www.mhhome.net

“A Life In Art: Paintings by Salvatore Gulla” is exhibited at the Quogue Library, 90 Quogue Street, Quogue through Apr 29. For details, visit www.quoguelibrary.org/ Gulla’s art can be viewed at
http://salvatoregulla.com/

“Richard Smith: Paintings and Drawings” is being exhibited at sPACe, The Gallery at PAC Space, 20 Terry Street, Patchogue through May 18. There will be a fundraiser and reception honoring Richard Smith on May 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. Proceeds benefit the sPACe Gallery. Smith will conduct an artist talk highlighting his work and achievements. Admission is $25 per person. RSVP is required by calling 631-505-3PAC.

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© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

William King Sculptures – Busy Being Themselves

DISPATCH – Apr 4, 2012 (9:17 p.m.)

RIVERHEAD, NY

There’s a lot of long sculptures in Riverhead. A solo show of figurative artwork by William King has taken over the Lyceum Gallery at Suffolk County Community College (and spilling onto the college campus).

Sculpture by William King. Photo courtesy The Lyceum Gallery.

“William King: Inside the Artist’s Studio” presents over 20 sculptures inside the gallery and two outside of it. The work was selected from various times in King’s career. He has been making art for around 60 years.

King is known for his long, angular and animated sculptures. The works are expressive with uncensored attitude. Figures can be witty, playful, friendly, curious, intense, trouble-causing and more.

They are typically engaged in mid-action. Characters are caught dancing, standing, posturing, playing an instrument or even mid-yell. They can be deep in contemplation or conversation. In short: Each sculpture is very busy being his or herself.

The exhibition came about after co-curators Margery Gosnell-Qua and Beth Giles visited King’s studio in East Hampton. Both women are adjunct assistant professors of Visual Arts. Gosnell-Qua is the Lyceum Gallery Coordinator.

During the studio visit, both became entranced at King’s “collection of sculptures,” recalled Gosnell-Qua.

“Grouped together, King’s life-size figures appeared as a riotous party, a ‘standing room only’ event, or an intermission at a production: top hats, smiles and “Hellos” between business men and Bohemians, acrobats and musicians, politicians and parents,” wrote Gosnell-Qua of her impression.

King’s workshop was equally compelling, she said. There were shelves of dripping glue, paint jars, wood clamps, dust masks and paint brushes. Sketches, maquettes, completed works and sculptures-in-process are part of the studio’s fray. So are sewing machines. King uses them to make the clothes for his sculptures, Gosnell-Qua said.

Clothing can be made of sailcloth, burlap, vinyl, Mylar and more. King even uses Tyvek, Gosnell-Qua said. “A material that perhaps describes the way a business man’s pressed suit wrinkles when worn, or ripples on a windy day while walking across town.

Installation view of "William King: Inside the Artist's Studio" at the Lyceum Gallery. Photo courtesy Lyceum Gallery.

Installation view of "William King: Inside the Artist's Studio." Photo courtesy Lyceum Gallery.

King makes his art from wood, steel and ceramic. Sculptures can be tabletop, life size or monumental. His artworks have been exhibited at The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. King’s sculptures are part of permanent collections held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC.

Outside installation of "William King: Inside the Artist's Studio" at Lyceum Gallery. Photo courtesy of Lyceum Gallery.

Here’s the same sculptures installed on the grounds of King’s studio:

Sculpture by William King. Photo courtesy Margery Gosnell-Qua.

Sculpture installed at William King's studio. Photo courtesy of Margery Gosnell-Qua.

William King in his East Hampton studio. Photo by Margery Gosnell-Qua.

BASIC FACTS: “William King: Inside the Artist’s Studio” is on view through Apr 6 at the Lyceum Gallery in the Montaukett Learning Resource Center at Suffolk County Community College’s Eastern Campus in Riverhead. The outside installation remains until Apr 28. For photos and directions, visit www.sunysuffolk.edu

The New York Times published a story on William King and the exhibition: www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/nyregion/william-kings-sculptures-at-the-lyceum-gallery-in-riverhead.html

If you’d like to “meet” William King via video, there’s a short movie on his website. The video, artwork images and a brief bio can be found at  www.williamkingsculptor.com/William_King/Movie.html

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 03.30.12

DISPATCH – Mar 30, 2012 (5:20 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

Two galleries launch the 2012 season with openings on Saturday. A third welcomes spring on Sunday with a group show celebrating the earth’s transformation from subdued grays into full blooming color. (At least, the part of the earth that’s found on Eastern Long Island!). All three exhibitions are presenting artists inspired, in some way, but the natural world.

Art Sites gallery opens 2012 by presenting two distinct shows in its Riverhead gallery. “Depths of Black” presents nighttime urban landscapes by Iliana Ortega. The works are a series of photographs with pencil. “New Taxonomies” features paintings by Donna Maria de Creeft and ceramics by Judy Hoffman. Both shows have an opening reception on Sat (Mar 31) from 4 to 6 p.m. The show remains on view through May 13.

"Untitled" by Iliana Ortega, 2010. Photograph and pencil. From the Black + White Drawing Series.

Ortega’s explores “the nocturnal urban landscape for inspiration,” according to Art Sites. Darkness is used to frame light and cloak everything but a hint of a landscape.

Photographs are made with layers of pure black pigment. Drill bits are used to scratch into the pigment and lead pencil lines add shimmer to the work, according to a release.

Ortega’s ultimate goal is to “uncover the profound relationship between fiction, representation and the reality,” according to the gallery.

"Untitled" by Iliana Ortega, 2010. Photograph and pencil. From the Black + White Drawing Series.

“New Taxonomies” features the works of Donna Maria de Creeft and Judy Hoffman. de Creeft makes notebook pages called “Asemic Taxonomies,” explained Art Sites. They are inspired by “arcane illustrated manuscripts and the pseudo-scientific collection of natural curiosities.”

"A page from Asemic Taxonomies" by Donna Maria de Creeft. (painting)

Colorful paintings of natural forms are mingled with illegible writings. Accompanied by sets of miniature artworks, they conjure relationships between cells, natural forms and decorative patterns, according to Art Sites.

"Minatures" by Donna Maria de Creeft. (painting)

de Creeft’s art is exhibited with ceramics by Hoffman. Her sculptural ceramics are inspired by forms found in nature that could be a newly discovered species of their own, according to the gallery.

"Calcaria" by Judy Hoffman, 2010. Stoneware.

Stoneware by Judy Hoffman.

The Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor opens its 2012 season with “Peconic and Maine Bayscapes.” the show features paintings by Michael Kotasek, Thomas Cardone and Ben Fenske.  An opening reception will be held on Sat (Mar 31) from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition remains on view through Apr 29.

Kotasek is presenting a new body of work including egg tempera paintings, water colors and drawings. His art presents a “soft-spoken yet deeply emotional realism,” according to the gallery. Worth noting is his watercolor, “Migration.”

“Migration”… emanates a Wyeth like starkness…yet exemplifies one of our most successful works in this poetic realism movement,” writes gallerist Laura Grenning.

"The Migration" by Michael Kotasek, 2012. Watercolor, 19 x 17 inches.

Cardone’s new to the Grenning Gallery. He’s based in Amagansett, NY and paints scenes from the East End and Long Island. Painting grounds include East Hampton, Shelter Island and Oyster Bay. The show features a series of boat scenes from the Peconic waterways and Long Island Sound.

"Shelter Island Fall" by Thomas Cardone, 2011. 11 x 14 inches.

Opening at the Levitas Center for the Arts at The Southampton Cultural Center is “SPRING QUINTET.”  Exhibiting artists are painters Deborah Black, Pamela Focarino, Margery Gosnell-Qua and Jane Johnson. Abstract sculpture by Ronnie Chalif is part of the show. The group show is curated by Arlene Bujese. An opening reception is being held on Sun (Mar 31) from 5 to 7 p.m.  The show continues through Apr 25.

Focarino is exhibiting a new series of oil paintings that presents “the play of light in the relationship between sky and water,” according to the gallery. “Light shines through the layered surface to create a luminous, translucent effect.”

"Avalon" by Pamela Focarino. Oil and venetian plaster on panel, 24 x 36 inches.

"#375 Elements" by Jane Johnson. Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches.

Johnson, on the other hand, uses light to suggest movement in nature. She reduces elements found in nature to suggest their full forms, states a gallery release.

Chalif’s abstract sculpture presents as “stone landscape inspired by the power and beauty of rocks from may mountain regions,” according to the gallery.

"Nocturnal Voyage 2" by Ronnie Chalif. Stone sculpture.

Black is exhibited new works where abstracted natural elements (like trees, rocks and grass forms) are “infused with filtered light,” according to a press release. “Textural, expressionist strokes complete the dynamic of movement in nature.”

Acrylic on paper painting by Deborah Black.

Gosnell-Qua’s bold gestural strokes suggest “fleeting forms and changes in light,” according to the gallery. Elements found in the landscape are softened through abstraction.

"Sojourn" by Margery Gosnell-Qua, 2011. Oil on canvas, 60 x 54 inches.

BASIC FACTS: Art Sites is located at 651 West Main Street, Riverhead. www.artsitesgallery.com/

Grenning Gallery is located at 17 Washington Street, Sag Harbor. “Peconic and Maine Bayscapes” ushers in its 15th season. www.grenninggallery.com/

The Levitas Center for the Arts at the Southampton Cultural Center is located at 25 Pond Lane, Southampton.
http://southamptonculturalcenter.org/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Rafael Ferrer Gets Bumped

DISPATCH – Mar 29, 2012 (7:30 a.m.)

GREENPORT, NY and LANCASTER, PA

The most difficult parts of having a museum show should be securing the exhibition and selecting the art. Rafael Ferrer’s recent experience upped the ante. With 29 days to go, Ferrer’s solo show was cancelled and then postponed by the Lancaster Museum of Art in PA. Plans now call for the exhibition to be held in the fall, said Lancaster Museum of Art board president Bernadette Taylor.

Photo: Gary Mamay.

Originally, the solo show was slated to open tomorrow (Mar 30). An “Art After Dark” private tour and event had been scheduled for May 17. Instead, the exhibition remains a concept and the catalogue and artworks are unseen.

The exhibition upset was prompted by the abrupt departure of Stanley I. Grand, the museum director and curator for the show.

The small staff (three, to be exact) didn’t feel they could give Ferrer’s show the curatorial expertise it deserved, said Taylor. The board voted to pull the exhibition from its slot.

“We felt in order to do a great job for the museum and for Rafael Ferrer, the best solution was to postpone, said Taylor. “We couldn’t give the show the attention it deserved so we decided to postpone out of respect for the artist.”

There’s no question that Ferrer’s diverse works can be a challenge to curate. Esperanza León of Solar art gallery curated Ferrer’s solo show at Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY last winter. ”Contrabando” was a short visual walk through the artist’s decades-long career. The exhibition was inspired by a Ferrer retrospective held at the El Museo del Barrio in New York City in 2010.

During an interview held near the closing days of “Contrabando,” León discussed the challenges and triumphs of curating an art show by a man who uses unusual and everyday objects to make his wide-ranging art. Materials include paper bags, gourds, chalk boards, metal, discarded parts, dead leaves, blocks of ice and more.

Compounding the challenge is Ferrer’s oeuvre ranges from conceptual to process art to figurative to surrealism to expressionism. Art can be couched in politics, social issues, dualities and exploring things that are out-of-place. A separate post will follow revealing León’s curator’s view in presenting Ferrer’s art.

In the meantime, here’s some of the art exhibited at Guild Hall last winter:

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

Photo By: Gary Mamay.

BASIC FACTS: ”Rafael Ferrer – Contrabando” was presented at Guild Hall from Nov 5, 2011 to Jan 16, 2012. The show featured over 50 artworks made from the mid-1970s to 2011. Esperanza León of Solar art gallery in East Hampton, NY was the guest curator for the exhibition.

Ferrer’s solo show at the Lancaster Museum of Art is expected to be held in the fall. Instead of the Ferrer show, artworks from the museum’s collection will be presented. “Permanent Collection: Featuring Recent Acquisitions” will be held from Apr 6 to May 27.  The exhibition is unique as the museum rarely presents shows culled from the collection, said Taylor. The show is guest curated by Claire L. Giblin, Curator of Exhibitions for The Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Ceramicist and her Figurative Archetypes Get Noticed

DISPATCH – Mar 24, 2012 (12:24 p.m.)

WATER MILL, NY

Tina Folks and her ceramics are both getting noticed. Folks was recently appointed the new director of the Celadon Gallery in Water Mill, NY. The gallery is the home of The Clay Art Guild of The Hamptons. They focus on presenting high-end ceramics (functional and fine art) by members and invited guest who are masters of their art.

This is the featured image for November 2012 in the Potters Council's Sculpture Collection calendar. "3 Crows Akimbo" by Tina Folks, 2011. Red clay and glazes, 20 x 16 inches.

Folks began the year on a roll. Her ceramics were selected for a 2012 calendar produced by the Potters Council. Three of her figurative ceramics appear as the November image in the Potters Council’s Sculpture Collection calendar.

Last weekend, Folks was accepted as first-time exhibiting artist in the Body of Work artist collective. The group held its annual “Body of Work” members show at Ashawagh Hall in Springs, NY on Mar 17 and 18. Folks was one of four artists newly accepted into the group of figurative artists.

Today, Folks presides over her first function as the new gallery director for Celadon Gallery in Water Mill. The gallery (and The Clay Art Guild of The Hamptons) is having a pot luck dinner for members tonight (Mar 24) to welcome the 2012 season. The gallery will open its “pre-season” with two shows in April. Solo and group shows by ceramic masters and guild members are held from May to October. A Holiday Sale from Nov 27 to Dec 6 closes out the gallery’s 2012 season.

While professional accolades are noteworthy (and should be celebrated), Folks’s art is equally worth noticing. Her ceramics are figures that conjure notions of spiritual guides or members of an undiscovered culture in the deepest wilds.

"Priestess" by Tina Folks.

The ceramics are built up in an intuitive way. The unique clothing suggests while each figure is part of an ancient culture, they are also individuals with their own path and role. Clothing can be elaborate dresses, intricate masks, jewelry, gloves, vests, coats and more.

This figure features a colored mask, crown and gloves.

Multiple dark washes give an antique feel to the works. Each piece is unique. The figure’s identity arises from the process of making the artwork, Folks said.

The art appears to be artifacts from an indigenous culture that could be from any location in the world. Whether this culture is historic or current and sequestered is unclear. If wonderings about their meanings and roles lead to spiritual pondering, viewers may have granted Folk’s wish for her art.

For Folks, her recent figurative ceramics are a spiritual exploration of ancient archetypes of animals and their meanings. The archetypes she connects with are those found in indigenous cultures. Folks’ search for spiritual meaning has implications for today. She plumbs the wisdoms of the past to discover meaning in her life’s experiences as they unfold, she said.

More artwork by Folks exhibited at the Celadon Gallery in May 2011.

The deeper Folks explored animal archetypes, the more she discovered the “power animals and their medicine and how they can be guides for us in our daily lives,” Folks states. With this knowledge came a peaceful place for her search through ceramics to continue.

Tina Folks next to her art at the Celadon Gallery in May 2011.

BASIC FACTS: Tina Folks has been a working ceramicist for over 25 years. She holds a BA in Studio Art from Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY and a BFA in Ceramic Design from Parsons School of Design in NYC. Her work can be viewed at
http://tinafolks.com
.

The Celadon Gallery’s first exhibition, ”Young People’s Ceramics,” opens on Apr 14. The “Spring Pottery Sale” opens on Apr 28. The show features function and sculptural ceramics by members of the Clay Art Guild of The Hamptons. The show remains on view through May 20. For an exhibition and event schedule, visit www.hamptonsclayart.org.

Besides holding the position of Gallery Director for Celadon Gallery, Tina Folks is a board member of East End Arts of Riverhead, NY.

The Potters Council Sculpture Calendar can be viewed (and purchased) here: www.cafepress.com/potterscouncil.581855463

Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Three To See – Weekend of 03.23.12

DISPATCH – Mar 23, 2012 (9:20 pm.)

HAMPTONS, NY

Two new contemporary art galleries launch and an established gallery reopens this weekend to welcome the 2012 season. New to the Hamptons are ILLE Arts in Amagansett and Hampton Hang Gallery in Water Mill. Reopening is Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Bridgehampton. All three galleries are presenting group shows of favorites. Between all three, there’s plenty of compelling art to see.

ILLE Arts of Amagansett is launching with an exuberant show of 14 artists. Some artists are friends, others are family. Most are well-known to the Hamptons art community.

“The Family Show” presents art by Sydney Albertini, Vivien Bittencourt-Katz, Mary Boochever, Amanda Brown, Jack Ceglic and James Gilroy. Also, Elaine Grove, John Haubrich, Pat Place, Kevin Teare, Tim Tibus, Stephen Westfall, Dan Christensen and Don Christensen.

An opening reception will be held on Sat (Mar 24) from 5 to 7 p.m. The gallery is located at 216 Main Street, Amagansett.

Here’s a look at some of the art:

“Khet” by Mary Boochever, 1999. Wood, plaster and encaustic on linen, 35 x 21 inches.

"The End Zone" by Don Christensen, 2008. Oil on canvas, 60 x 66 inches.

“Between Heaven and Hell” by John Haubrich. Collage, paper, oil, acrylic, pencil and electric sander, 50 x 50 inches.

"Olive Tree, Puglia" by Vivien Bittencourt-Katz, 2006. Fujicolor crystal archive print, Edition: 4.Impression: 1/4, 29 x 42 1/2 inches.

“Plenary Indulgence” by Elaine Grove, 2011. Feathers, bone, steel, wood, wire, cloth, sequins, candle, pigment, 46 x 24 x 10 inches.

Hampton Hang Gallery’s inaugural exhibition features a printmaker-painter, a sculptor and a mineral curator. The exhibition “Mind & Matter” presents works by Steve Miller and Mike Chiarello and curation by Angela Firestone. Miller is exhibiting works with a painterly feel. Chiarello is showing three new sculptures and custom tables. Firestone has curated an exhibition of minerals.  She was formally with the Cranbrook Institute of Science in MI.

“Mind and Matter” has an opening reception on Saturday (Mar 24) from 6 to 8 p.m. The gallery is located at 688 Montauk Highway, Water Mill.

Here’s a peek at some of the exhibited art:

"When Conditions Are Favorable" by Steve Miller, 2009. Carbon print and silk screen on canvas, 24 x 26.5 inches.

Sculpture by Mike Chiarello installed at Hampton Hang Gallery.

Sculpture by Mike Chariello installed outside of Hampton Hang Gallery.

"Malachite pseudomorph Azurite, Milpillas, Mexico." Selected by Angela Firestone for a specimen mineral collection exhibited at Hampton Hang Gallery.

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is quietly re-opening its Bridgehampton gallery for the season (Its New York City gallery goes full tilt most of the year). There’s no opening reception but there is an opportunity to see some of the gallery’s favorite artworks.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll see:

"Petals of the Lotus III" by Meredith Pardue, 2012. Ink oil, oil crayon and charcoal on canvas, 30 x 30 inches.

"Delta Canto #2" by Allison Stewart, 2011. Mixed media on canvas, 36 x 72 inches.

"Crabapple, No. 4" by Jeri Eisenberg, 2008. Archival pigment ink on Japanese paper infused with encaustic medium, 36 x 34 inches.

"Strange Weather" by Allison Steward, 2011. Oil on panel, 4 parts, 42 x 66 inches.

"Untitled (Winning Code: KWVPJ)" by Sydney Licht, 2010. Watercolor on paper, 11 x 7 inches.

BASIC FACTS: “Mind & Matter” at Hampton Hang Gallery opens Mar 24 and runs through Apr 20. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday. It’s located at 688 Montauk Hwy, Water Mill, NY. 631-728-2266 or find them on Facebook.

“The Family Show” at ILLE Arts opens Mar 24 and remains on view through mid-May. The gallery is open every day. They are located at 216 Main Street, Amagansett, NY.
http://illearts.com

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts opens its Bridgehampton gallery this weekend for the 2012 season. It’s open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery will open 7 days a week starting Memorial Day weekend. They are located at 2418 Montauk Hwy, Bridgehampton, NY. www.markelfinearts.com

GOOD TO KNOW: 

Hampton Hang Gallery has been silently hanging for awhile. The new gallery shares a parking lot with the Sara Nightingale Gallery. If you had peered into their large windows over the winter, your eyes would have spied a pool table occupying the center of the room with art on the wall. It is owned by Ashley R. Dye and Eric Kulukundis.

ILLE Arts is owned by Sara de Luca. Her husband is the abstract painter Don Christensen. His brother is the abstract painter Dan Christensen (1942-2007). A separate blog on ILLE Arts and their plans for the summer will post here next month.

Every winter, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts turns over its gallery to an organization, artist group or gallerist so art will be shown in the space year round. In 2011, Sara Nightingale Gallery presented artwork there while transitioning from Shelter Island to Water Mill. This year, Bonac Tonic Art Collective took over the space and curated art shows in Jan and Feb.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Visual Diary – The Armory Show Modern

DISPATCH - Mar 21, 2012 (8:57 a.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

The reports are in. The Armory Show drew over 60,000 visitors to the two-part art fair focusing on Modern or Contemporary art from Mar 8 to 11, 2012. All told, there were 226 exhibitors from around the globe.

The Armory Show is the centerpiece of multiple arts fairs that pop up for four days in New York City every March. Mapping a plan of attendance is tricky. I tackled the Modern at Pier 92 first.

The art was wowing even before getting through the entrance. A mixed media piece by DOUG + MIKE STARN pulled me from the entrance line. I knew the pair had installed a rooftop of art, made mostly from bamboo, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2010. Having missed the installation, I was pleased to see a small part of it here:

"Bbu Juju painting MV3" by DOUG + MIKE STARN (from Big Bambu Metropolitan roof and Venice Biennale installations), 2010-11. Unique work, Bamboo and rope, 108 x 192 x 35 inches (approx).

There were more works by DOUG + MIKE STARN inside the art fair, courtesy of HackelBury Fine Art (London, UK) and Wetterling Gallery (Stockholm, Sweden).

After entering Pier 92, the show seemed more like a series of curated museum shows than an art fair. Here’s a few of the artworks that pulled me from the aisle.

Figurative works by Volker Stelzmann continue to compel after multiple visits. Colorful, detailed and rendered by an obvious master, there were several paintings presented by DIE GALERIE of Frankfurt, Germany. The triptych below was beyond life size:

"Station" by Volker Stelzmann, 2010. 2011. Mixed media on nettle on MDF, 80.70 x 39.40 inches (each painting). Exhibited DIE GALERIE (Frankfurt, Germany).

Stelzmann uses “subtle irony to explore social identity as well as the human characters – and all their modes of behavior – populating it,” according to Artnet.com. “Absent eyes gazing from exaggerated, puppet-like and voiceless faces reveal forlorn souls of society, offer a fascinating manifestation of Stelzmann’s merciless bit simultaneously humane image of humanity, and encourage philosophical reflection within the viewer.”

Two smaller works nearby demonstrated the consistency of Stelzmann’s artistic vision.

"Ecce Homo II" by Volker Stelzmann, 2011. Mixed media on nettle on MDF, 80 x 100 cm. Exhibited DIE GALERIE (Frankfurt, Germany).

I drew a gasp of surprise upon seeing a painted face staring from the floor of the Christopher Cutts Gallery booth (Toronto, Canada). Martin C. Herbst‘s sculpture, “Lena” had many people snapping photos on iPhones, BlackBerries and cameras. After waiting my turn, I contributed to the fray of flashing lights.

"Lena" by Martin C. Herbst, 2011. Oil and lacquer on steel sphere, 29.5 inch diameter. Exhibited Christopher Cutts Gallery.

A tabletop sculpture by Herbst was presented nearby. Herbst was born in Austria and is based in Vienna.

"Lenissima 2" by Martin C. Herbst, 2010. Oil and lacquer on steel sphere, 11.8 inch diameter. Exhibited Christopher Cutts Gallery.

Sculpture exhibited by the Marlborough Gallery knocked me out. In fact, most of the art did.

"Standing Figures (5)" by Magdalena Abakanowicz, 2000. Bronze, 66.25 x 20.25 x 14.24 inches. Exhibited Marlborough Gallery.

"Bookcase" by Manolo Valdes, 2011. Wood, 110 x 55 x 12 inches. Exhibited Marlborough Gallery.

Detail from "Bookcase" by Manolo Valdes, 2011. Wood. Presented by Marlborough Gallery.

Rhonda Hoffman Gallery (Chicago, IL) presented “Blah, Blah, Blah” by Mel Bochner. Bochner was a sixties art trailblazer with his integration of language into the visual field, according to the gallery. Bochner’s art explores ways that color changes the purpose of text as a meaning-conveyor. In “Blah, Blah, Blah,” the phrase is used to explore how an object mixed with language functions as art.

"Blah, Blah, Blah" by Mel Bochner, 2011. Monoprint with engraving and embossment on hand-dyed Twinrocker handmade paper, 69 x 52 inches. Exhibited Marlborough Gallery.

I was drawn to the way Kelly Reemtsen handled paint and the conceptual contrasts. Thick and textured applications belied the girly dresses and titles that state the obvious or use puns. Her work was exhibited by David Klein Gallery of Birmingham, MI.

Reemtsen’s exhibited paintings depicted an anonymous female (without face or head) in a vintage dress with an object that defies her outfit choice. According to a bio, “Kelly Reemtsen’s paintings explore the paradoxical state of being female in post-feminist contemporary society.”

"Heart Wrenching" by Kelly Reemtsen, 2011. Oil on panel, 36 x 36 inches. Exhibited David Klein Gallery.

Vibrant colors radiating from a rustic frame coaxed me into DC Moore Gallery’s booth. The intimate size of “Lit Horizon” by Mark Innerst brought me closer and made me want to keep looking. A solo show by Innerst will be presented at DC Moore Gallery from May 3 to June 8.

"Lit Horizon" by Mark Innerst, 2012. Oil on canvas in the artist's handmade frame, 8 x 7-7/8 inches. Exhibited DC Moore Gallery (New York, NY).

Bold surfaces twisted into compelling shapes were found in Albert Paleythe‘s sculpture, “Proscenium.” The patina finish gave the appearance of a soft stained wood instead of sharp steel.

"Proscenium" by Albert Paley, 2009. Mild steel with natural patina finish, 55.50 x 32.25 x 17.50 inches. Exhibited Gerald Peters Gallery (New York, NY).

I learned a bit about Japanese avant garde art history at Whitestone Gallery (Tokyo, Japan). A dark abstract painting by Kazuo Shiraga (1924-2008) brought me into the booth. Shiraga only used his body to make his paintings, explained a gallerist. He was known to paint with his feet while dangling from a rope suspended from a ceiling, according to Whitestone Gallery. His fierce movements and methodology were designed to release energy and impart exuberant into the art.

"Hokei" by Kazuo Shiraga, 1992. Oil on canvas, 162.10 x 130.30 cm. Exhibited Whitestone Gallery (Tokyo, Japan).

Side view detail of "Hokei" by Kazuo Shiraga.

Whitestone Gallery also exhibited artists from the Gutai Movement (and the Gutai Association).

"Circle" by Jiro Yoshihara, 1971. Acrylic on canvas, 17.90 x 20.90 inches. Exhibited Whitestone Gallery.

The Gutai Association was part of avant garde art taking place in Post-World War II Japan. Members produced kinetic works of art and staged performance-based art like those employed by Kazuo Shiraga or by wrestling with mud, throwing paint bottles, breaking paper screens and the like, staged outdoors or on stages.

The Gutai Association embraced young artists who made art that kept true to the material used in their work.

Gutai encouraged experimentation and creating art in the now, according to a catalogue. Artists exhibited by the Whitestone Gallery were Jiro Yoshihara (1905-1972) and Sadamasa Motonaga (1922-2011).

Ceramic sculpture by Israeli artist Varda Yatom yanked me from the aisle. Art from her “Wedding” series were exhibited by Babcock Galleries in New York City.  The series explores the symbolic possibilities within the Jewish wedding ceremony, according to her website. The works “explore the loss of identity of the individual within a group and the loss of personal identity within contemporary society.” The wires and their placement demonstrated thwarted attempts to communicate.

Ceramics by Varda Yatom from her "Wedding" series. Exhibited Babcock Galleries (New York, NY).

Pace Prints had an expansive booth filled with great art. The work was diverse and every one seemed to be a winner. Here’s a small sampling of what was presented:

"Brown Branches" by Donald Baechler, 2011. Four stenciled pigmented handmade linen papers, 23.25 x 17.25 inches each. Edition of 10. Exhibited Pace Prints.

"Sitting with a Snake" by Kiki Smith, 2007. Digital acid-based inkjet dyes on silk charmeuse, 69.50 x 48.50 inches. Edition of 18. Exhibited Pace Prints.

"Untitled" by Yoshitomo Nara, 2010. A series of ten Ukiyo-e woodcuts, 16.50 x 11.75 inches each. Edition of 50. Exhibited Pace Prints.

Galerie ALFA from Paris, France presented drawings by several accomplished artists (among other works). Standouts were works by Davor Vrankic and David Porchy.

Pencil drawings on paper by David Porchy. On left is "Untitled," 2012, 18.50 x 20 cm. On right is "Exit," 2011, 87 x 50 cm. Exhibited Galerie ALFA (Paris, France)

BASIC FACTS: The 14th edition of The Armory Show was held from Mar 8 to 11, 2012 in New York City. There were around 228 exhibitors in the art fair that was divided between Modern and Contemporary Art, according to a release.The Modern presented 71 exhibitors from nine countries. The Contemporary had 157 exhibitors, which included 19 invited exhibitors for Armory Focus: The Nordic Countries. This year saw the premiere of Solo Projects edition. www.thearmoryshow.com/

HAMPTONS FOCUS: There were quite a few Hamptons artists spotted at the Modern edition. They include paintings by Alfonso Ossorio (1927-2011) (worked in Southampton) and Dan Rizzie (currently works in North Haven) and sculpture by John Chamberlain (1927-2011) (worked on Shelter Island).

Spanierman Modern booth’s was dominated by painters connected to the Hamptons and the East End of Long Island. Their historic artist line-up included Willem de Kooning, James Brooks, Charlotte Park, Ibram Lassaw, Betty Parsons, Dan Christensen and others.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Andrea Kowch SCOPE Art Fair Winner

DISPATCH – Mar 18, 2012 (1:24 p.m.)

NEW YORK & SAG HARBOR, NY

Andrea Kowch won a top spot during a global artist search sponsored by SCOPE New York. The painter who combines Goth with an Old Masters style was selected as one of the top 100 emerging artists in the world by SCOPE NY last weekend.

Kowch’s paintings depict scenes that might have been staged if Alfred Hitchcock and Andrew Wyeth had ever collaborated. Kowch’s paintings are distinctly her own–powerful, moody, narrative and heavy with symbolism.

"Sojourn" by Andrea Kowch. Photo: Gary Mamay.

The works leap from sweeping and empty landscapes found in rural Middle America. People gather or appear solo on canvas for unknown reasons. Together, the place, people and animals (often crows) form allegories tying the human experience with the unpredictability of the natural world.

“The lonely, desolate American landscape encompassing the paintings’ subjects serves as an exploration of nature’s sacredness and a reflection of the human soul, symbolizing all things powerful, fragile and eternal,” Kowch writes in her Artist Statement.

"The Feast" by Andrea Kowch. Photo: Gary Mamay.

Collector John Hooker described Kowch’s work this way. “Her paintings are a window to my dreams. They give me an excuse to escape. A moment to contemplate. The expression of her subjects reminds me of the Mona Lisa smile: enigmatic and unfathomable. The rich browns and yellow hues of her countrysides draw me in to a world of mystery, of supernatural beings, and the unknown. Although she may inspire fear, she reassures with her warm and natural colors. I find the tension between the two, captivating.”

Like Andrew Wyeth, Kowch’s paintings depict rural surroundings drawn from the area where she lives. Paintings are inspired by Midwestern American landscapes of Kowch’s home state of Michigan.

"Whirlwind" by Andrea Kowch. Photo: Gary Mamay.

Sag Harbor gallerist Richard Demato discovered Kowch’s work in 2009 after her art was published in “Spectrum #16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art.” His gallery, Richard J. Demato Fine Art Gallery, has been representing her ever since. Two solo shows both sold out, said Demato.

“Her art is so compelling, it crosses over any collectors’ limitations or boundaries,” he said. “Clients have found a need to own her work, and thus have now redefined themselves as true collectors of her art. The work has so much portrayed emotion, that it was brought many collectors, including me, to tears.”

"Crow's Song" by Andrea Kowch. Acrylic on canvas. 48 x 36 inches. Photo: Gary Mamay.

"The Pheasant Keeper" by Andrea Kowch. Photo: Gary Mamay.

New art by Kowch will be unveiled in The Hamptons in July 2012. A new (and darker) series of work will premiere at Richard J. Demato Fine Art Gallery in Sag Harbor, NY and at ArtHamptons and artMRKT in Bridgehampton, NY. The gallery expects to hold an opening for Kowch’s solo show on July 14 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Kowch’s art is expected to be exhibited during the Miami art fairs in December 2012.

"Rural Sisters" by Andrea Kowch. This painting, and the one below, have not been exhibited yet. They will be unveiled at ArtHamptons in July 2012. Photo: Gary Mamay.

BASIC FACTS: Andrea Kowch was recognized as one of the top 100 emerging artists in the world by SCOPE New York. Every year, the SCOPE Foundation honors emerging artists, galleries and independent curators through awards. One prior recipient was artist Matt Bua. He has exhibited at Art Sites gallery in Riverhead, NY. For select list of honorees, visit www.scope-art.com.

Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery represents Andrea Kowch and submitted her work to the SCOPE competition. In 2011, they released a series of six images in framed limited editions. www.rjdgallery.com.

Andrea Kowch writes a blog providing insight into some her paintings. It can be seen here:
http://andreakowch.com/

TIDBITS: “The Feast” was selected as Best in Show at the 2011 Art Kudos International Juried Exhibition.

“Sojourn” was published on the cover of the July 2011 publication (July #69) of American Art Collector. It’s now part of the permanent collection of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

"Rural Sisters" by Andrea Kowch. Photo: Gary Mamay.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Homage to Figurative Art

DISPATCH – Mar 17, 2012 (10:05 a.m.)

SPRINGS, NY

An artist group dedicated to figurative work unveils their art today in a weekend show at Ashawagh Hall, just outside of East Hampton, NY. “Body of Work VII” features art by 12 artists. The show includes paintings, drawing, photography, digital art and mixed media works. “Body of Work” artists banded together from a love of figurative art.

"Tattooed Woman" by Anthony Lombardo.

“For me, portraiture has never lost its ability to convey emotion, whether the subject is real, a composite of imaginary,” said exhibiting artist Frederick Paxton Werner.

Long-time artist member Frank Sofo said, “I have a passion for the figure in all its variations, not just the nude figure. I love to capture the figure in natural situations, especially in private moments.”

“Body of Work VII” is presenting a mix of work by long-time members and those new the group. Established Body members are Linda Capello, Rosalind Brenner, Michael Cardacino, Cynthia Loewen, Anthony Lombardo, Bob Markell, Frank Sofo and Margaret Weissbach.

First-time exhibitors are Janet Culbertson, Tina Folks, Douglas Reina and Frederick Paxton Werner.

The group started holding annual shows due to the shortage of galleries exhibiting figurative work. Nearly all are based in the Hamptons. Many of the artists met during life drawing sessions led or facilitated by Capello held at the Southampton Cultural Center or adjoining VFW Hall.

"Reclining Male" by Linda Capello.

The life drawing workshops have been held for over 20 years and are the oldest life drawing classes on the East End of Long Island, said Capello. Artists attending the classes or sessions aren’t necessarily figurative artists. Those making landscape and abstract works may attend for enjoyment or to sharpen technical skills. Drawing from a live model fosters the ability to look critically at the surroundings, Capello said.

“Drawing from a model changes the way you look at things,” Capello said. “If you can draw from the body from life, you can draw anything.”

“Body of Work VII” will be held today and tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. An artist reception will be held tonight from 5 to 8 p.m.

Here’s a preview of some of the art:

"Figure" by Cynthia Loewen.

"Girl at the Window" by Frederick Paxton Werner.

"High Tide" by Frank Sofo.

By Douglas Reina

"Flying High" by Margaret Weissbach

"Omega's Garden" by Rosalind Brenner

"Offerings to the goddess master" by Michael Cardacino

BASIC FACTS: “Body of Work VII” takes place Mar 17 and 18 at Ashawagh Hall, 778 Springs Fireplace Road, Springs, NY.
http://ashawagh-hall.org

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

LEGO Blocks as Sculpture

DISPATCH – Mar 14, 2012 (12:48 a.m.)

ROSLYN HARBOR, NY

LEGOs aren’t just for kids. New York sculptor Nathan Sawaya has known this for a while. In fact, he’s been making art from the toy plastic building blocks for 10 years or so. Sawaya’s work is currently the subject of a solo show at the Nassau County Museum of Art through Mar 18.

"Strength of Spirit" by Nathan Sawaya.

Sawaya’s art is also being presented in multiple exhibitions traveling across the United States and Australia. These are the first museum shows to focus exclusively on art made from the LEGO®, according to Sawaya’s website.

However, “Nathan Sawaya: Recent Works” is not part of that circuit. The Contemporary Collectors Circle of the Nassau County Museum of Art is presenting the exhibition in cooperation with the Agora Gallery in New York.

Toy building blocks is Sawaya’s medium of choice as they can cross-channel childhood openness with sophisticated concepts and transform from toy to fine art.

“These works are very personal to me, since they reflect my growth as an artist as I strove to discover my creative identity,” Sawaya states on his website. “The museum exhibition is accessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating sophisticated and complex concepts. Everyone can relate to the medium since it is a toy that many children have at home. But I want to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before.”

Life-size sculptures are made from 15,000 to 25,000 LEGOs, Sawaya estimates.

His art is considered a pop art and surrealism fusion, according to the museum. Sawaya’s sculptures on view are primarily figurative.

“His gripping images of human figures are alive with emotion,” according to a release. “While at times ironic, the works also expose and comment on raw elements of the human experience.”

Here’s a few works on view at the Long Island museum:

"Goodbye" by Nathan Sawaya, 2010. Plastic bricks, 34 x 32 x 3 inches.

"The Courage Within" by Nathan Sawaya, 2009. Plastic bricks, 59 x 18 x 11 inches.

"Trapped" by Nathan Sawaya, 2010. Plastic bricks, 23 x 28 x 16 inches.

"Pushing Against" by Nathan Sawaya, 2010. Plastic bricks, 96 x 30 x 20 inches.

BASIC FACTS: “Nathan Sawaya: Recent Works” is on view through Mar 18 at the Nassau County Museum of Art, One Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor, NY.  
http://nassaumuseum.org

Sculpture from LEGO® plastic building blocks by Sawaya are the subject of multiple museum exhibitions traveling throughout the United States and Australia. Two upcoming stops on “The Art of the Brick®” tour are the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry in Portland, OR (from Mar 17 to Apr 29) and the Art & Culture Center of Hollywood in Hollywood, FL (from Jun 8 to Aug 19).

For details, visit Nathan Sawaya’s website:
http://brickartist.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Firestone Gallery Brings Street Art Vibe to SCOPE

DISPATCH – Mar 9, 2012 (9:58 a.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

SCOPE Art Fair knows what it’s like to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Since inception, the fair has supported and presented emerging galleries showing artists trying to break into the art establishment. SCOPE has remained true to its roots but now presents a mix of new, on-their-way and established artists and likeminded galleries.

The Eric Firestone Gallery of East Hampton is matching SCOPE’s style by bringing a mix of established artists and those sprinting from the gate. At SCOPE New York, the gallery is presenting art with a street art vibe.

Since opening in East Hampton in 2010, the Eric Firestone has presented art with a street art style (or actual street art) and cutting edge contemporary works mixed with art that may have inspired the work. The gallery is interested in popular culture, contemporary art and design, and street art, according to a release.

It’s a gallery not afraid to take chances.

In its first summer season, the Eric Firestone Gallery held a “godfathers of graffiti” show completed with a tagged truck parked on tony Newtown Lane. Recently, it’s presenting “The Boneyard Project: Return Trip” at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AR. The show features over 30 artists who were invited to reinvent aircraft and airplane parts into art objects. The show remains on view through May 31, 2012.

“Nose Job,” a show with a similar concept, was held at the East Hampton gallery last summer. The exhibition featured art made from the noses of planes.

The “Nose Job” project began with Eric Firestone and Carlo McCormick, who curated the show, “scouring the ‘bone yards’ of the Arizona desert where the old disused airplanes of America’s air force go to die and collected a wide range of nose cones from these planes in various shapes and sizes,” according to the gallery.

Artists were invited to use the discarded parts to make art as commentary on contemporary culture, the romance and recently-born fears associated with flying and the legacy of folk art made on military planes. ”The Boneyard Project: Return Trip” continues these themes. It includes works by Richard Prince, Ron English, Dan Colen, Tristan Eaton, Crash and Futura.

Meanwhile, at SCOPE New York, a gathering of art with street attitude is being presented. Here’s a look at some of the works selected:

"Keith Haring, Pop Shop Tokyo," by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1988. Inkjet print on rag paper, 35 x 47 inches.

"Untitled" by Retna, 2011. Enamel on repurposed aircraft flooring (aluminum), 70.25 x 120 inches.

"Touch Water" by Darius Yektai, 2012. Oil on canvas, 64 x 68 inches.

"Fortune" by Faile, 2012. Acrylic, spray paint, silkscreen ink on wood, 70 x 137 inches.

"Homemade Hermes Birkin Bag" by Shelter Serra, 2012. Resin, 1/1, unique, 16 x 15 x 2 inches.

"Made in China (Melting Flag)" by Andrew Schoultz, 2011. Gold leaf and acrylic on American flag stretched over panel, 42 x 64 inches.

BASIC FACTS: The Eric Firestone Gallery is presented a group show at SCOPE New York at Booth F01. Exhibiting artists include Retna, Ryan Travis Christian, Jameson Ellis, Faile, Andrew Schoultz, Shelter Serra and Darius Yektai. The gallery is located at 4 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY. www.ericfirestonegallery.com

SCOPE New York is being held from Mar 7 through 11 at the Scope Pavilion, 57th St and 12th Ave (West Side Highway). Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for students. www.scope-art.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Abstraction at High Line Open Studios – James Kennedy

DISPATCH – Mar 8, 2012 (10:35 p.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

The High Line in Chelsea is offering an alternate to the swirl of art fairs. The High Line Open Studios is being held on Saturday (Mar 10) from noon to 6 p.m. The self-guided tour features around 50 studios in nine buildings located from West 21st St to West 28th St. The event is free. Visitors are encouraged to begin at the West Chelsea Arts Building at 508-526 West 26th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

The open studio event includes the workspace of painter James Kennedy and The Viewing Room of Surface Library Gallery. Until last year, Kennedy and the gallery were based in Springs, NY near East Hampton. Kennedy co-owns and is the co-director of Surface Library with ceramic artist Bob Bachler. The pair moved and relocated the gallery to Chelsea in 2011.

Besides the High Line Open Studios, Kennedy’s art can be seen at Scope NY with Mindy Solomon Gallery at Booth A11.

Here’s a quick look at his paintings:

"Constructive Tendencies" by James Kennedy, 2012. Mixed Media on Incised Masonite, 52 X 52 inches.

"Formal Assembly" by James Kennedy, 2012. Mixed media on Incised Masonite, 52 x 52 inches.

"Face Off" by James Kennedy, 2012. Mixed Media on Incised Masonite, 39 x 39 inches.

Kennedy’s paintings “address a fascination with essential structures and arrangements whilst exploring the linguistics of music, mathematics, dance and architecture,” according to his website.

Kenney makes his work through intuition and gives the random free rein. Pattern recognition and manipulation are common themes, he said. So is “solving spatial equations through paint.”

BASIC FACTS: High Line Open Studios takes place on Sat, Mar 10 from noon to 6 p.m. For details, visit www.highlineopenstudios.org. For a downloadable map:
http://highlineopenstudios.org/images/map_images/HLOS_March10_web_map_8.5×11.pdf

JAMES KENNEDY is exhibiting his work this weekend at Scope NY with Mindy Solomon Gallery at Booth A11 and in Chelsea during the High Line Open Studios. His studio is located at 551 West 21st Street. So is The Viewing Room of Surface Library. 
http://jameskennedyonline.com

SCOPE New York is being held from Mar 7 through 11 at the Scope Pavilion, 57th St and 12th Ave (West Side Highway). For details, visit www.scope-art.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Ancient Meets Cutting Edge at Fountain Art Fair – Colin Goldberg

DISPATCH – Mar 8, 2012 (3:01 p.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

Fountain Art Fair has carved a niche in the art fair family by being the bad boy: rebellious, challenging and a bit unpredictable. Street art is part of this year’s mix (200-feet of it straddling the inside and outside of the 69th Street Regiment Armory). So is a 35-foot inflatable pink bunny hovering above the art (the piece is by Ryan Cronin). That’s just some of the action bringing life to site-specific installations, performances and 60 exhibitors of art.

Representing the East End at Fountain is Colin Goldberg and his technology-fueled paintings. Goldberg uses digital means, traditional painting and ancient gold leafing techniques to make his cutting edge art. His paintings use a multi-step process. Infusing the handmade mark of the artist is an integral part of it.

Goldberg’s latest works carry forward an ancient fascination with icons and combine it with modern attraction to outer space, an energized lifestyle and the abstract expressionism penchant for channeling emotion.

Goldberg is exhibiting with Yes! Gallery from Brooklyn. His new works reflects a compositional shift that seems to integrate two recent series. Here’s a preview of some Goldberg’s art:

"Alarius" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, silver leaf, pigment and conte on canvas. 11 x 17 inches.

"Alpha Release" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, pigment and silver leaf on canvas. 17 x 11 inches.

"Chariot" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, pigment, gold leaf and charcoal on canvas. 17 x 11 inches.

"Gyre" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil and pigment on canvas. 11x17 inches.

"Minotaur" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, pigment, bronze leaf and charcoal on canvas. 11 x 17 inches.

"Phonotron" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, silver leaf, pigment and conte on canvas. 11 x 17 inches.

"Protospace" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil and pigment on canvas. 11 x 17 inches.

"Whiplash" by Colin Goldberg, 2012. Oil, gold leaf and pigment on canvas. 11 x 17 inches.

BASIC FACTS: Fountain Art Fair is presenting its seventh annual fair at the 69th Regiment Armory at 68 Lexington Avenue at 25th Street. The fair opens tomorrow (Friday, Mar 9) with a VIP preview from 1 to 8 p.m. The Public Opening takes place from 7 to 11 p.m. The fair continues on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m. An Art for Progress Party takes place on Sat (Mar 10) from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $10 daily or $15 for a weekend pass. For details, visit
http://www.fountainartfair.com/

COLIN GOLDBERG lives and works on the North Fork of Long Island. His art is part of collections held by The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs, NY and the Insight Advertising Agency in Bowling Green, OH. Solo exhibitions include Yes! Gallery of Brooklyn, 4 North Main Gallery in Southampton and others. His work has been exhibited in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the East End of Long Island and other places. For details, see
http://colingoldberg.com/

YES! GALLERY is located at 147 India St. Brooklyn, NY. At Fountain Art Fair, the gallery is presenting works by Colin Goldberg, Elizabeth Buckley, Lara Pacilio, Lorene Taurerewa, Nicole Handel, Thomas Bevan and Soo Im Lee. They are located in Booth F204.
http://yesgalleryyes.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Laced Afterglow – Patrick Brennan at Volta NY

DISPATCH – Mar 7, 2012 (7:02 p.m.)

New York, NY

Patrick Brennan’s abstract art nimbly combines painting and assemblage. A first look doesn’t always reveal the subtle lacing amid the explosion of angular shapes and color. His method of combining artistic elements can leave the mind wondering.

The afterglow of impression appears, unbidden, after walking away. A memory can coax viewers to return and explore.

“His embrace of the struggle and play in the act of creation lead to honest and surprising results both strident and beautiful,” said Ryan Wallace, co-director and co-owner of Halsey Mckay Gallery.

New York City art fair goers have the chance to see a solo show of Brennan’s work at Volta NY. Brennan is the artist of choice of the Halsey Mckay Gallery of East Hampton. 

Volta NY features solo artist projects presented by a gallery. Volta NY is presenting 80 galleries from 25 countries and 45 cities.

“The solo format of the Volta fair is the perfect outlet for Patrick’s work,” said Wallace. “While each painting has a strong individual presence, his process of thought and creation can best be appreciated and understood amongst several works.”

At Volta NY, Brennan’s art will be presented in a clean installation. Here’s a brief preview:  

"Coward" by Patrick Brennan. Mixed Media on canvas, 48 x 36 inches.

"The Part" by Patrick Brennan. Mixed Media on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches.

"Fade and Flow" by Patrick Brennan, 2011. Mixed Media on canvas. 72 x 48 inches.

"Get Free (White)" by Patrick Brennan. Mixed Media on canvas, 48 x 36 inches.

"Faces" by Patrick Brennan. Mixed Media on canvas, 48 x 36 inches.

BASIC FACTS: Volta NY is being held from Mar 8 to 11 at 7 West 34th Street between 5th & 6th Avenue, New York, NY. Hours are Thursday from 2 to 7 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday to Sunday. Tickets are $15 or $40 for a dual pass with The Armory Show. The dual pass can be purchased online. 
http://ny.voltashow.com

HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY is located at 105 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY. They present projects and exhibitions in Brooklyn, Manhattan and other places. For details, visit www.halseymckay.com or email info@halseymckay.com.

PATRICK BRENNAN is based in New York City. Solo shows have been held at galleries in Manhattan, Brooklyn, East Hampton and Atlanta, GA. Group shows include the Islip Art Museum on Long Island, PS 1 in Long Island City, NY and more. 
http://patrickbrennan.info

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Viewing Volta NY

DISPATCH - Mar 6, 2012 (5:50 p.m.)

NEW YORK, NY

It’s no secret that New York City is bracing for four days of intense art viewing. No fewer than 10 art fairs are set to converge on a city already chock full of great art. Most of the fairs have previews on Thursday (Mar 8). At the center of the whirlwind is The Armory Show. Not to be overlooked is Volta NY.

Volta NY is the sister show to The Armory Show, and the complementary art fairs share more than family ties. Shuttles carry fairgoers between the two. A dual pass for admission is offered online. VIPs at one fair have privileges at the other. The differences between the two are breadth and presentation.

The Armory Show is divided into two sections: one focused on Modern Art (Pier 92) and the other on contemporary (Pier 94). Art is typically presented by galleries in group exhibitions, although this year’s fair has a new section for solo projects. There are around 220 exhibitors participating in the art show.

Volta NY is presenting 80 galleries from 25 countries and 45 cities. HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY of East Hampton is among them (see separate post to follow shortly). All of the art is contemporary. The big difference is emphasis: Volta NY is made up of solo exhibitions presented by galleries invited to participate.

Volta’s aim is to offer an art fair that is a “tightly-focused, boutique event that is a place for discovery,” according to a release. The experience has been likened to visiting a “focused series of intense studio visits” by art critic Amanda Coulson, who conceived the art fair. VOLTA is the American incarnation of the fair founded in Basel, Switzerland in 2005.

Volta NY’s opening day will include a live taping of Art/Trek NYC, a new cable television series portraying a quest for emerging artistic talent in the five NYC boroughs. Performances are part of Volta NY. For instance, “BOOMI” mixes boom boxes, iPad apps, audio interfaces and dance performances with fair visitors in a “celebration of technology, creativity, physicality and art,” according to a release.

Open Forum, a series of panel discussions, will be held at Volta NY to highlight the Nordic focus presented at The Armory Show. The Volta NY lineup includes international curators, journalists, writers, artists and editors.

A full lineup of exhibiting artists, galleries, programs and performances can be found at
http://ny.voltashow.com
. In the meantime, here’s a peek at some of the art that will be exhibited:

"Glass Girl" by Timotheus Tomicek, 2011. Video installation. Courtesy Jenkins Johnson Gallery.

"Seer" by Nicola Samori, 2011. Oil on wood, 41.7 x 36.2 inches. Courtesy LARMgalleri.

"From where the sun now stands," by Andreas Johansson, 2011. Pop-up book, unique. Courtesy galleri flach.

"little black mess" by Lotte Van den Audenaeren, 2008. Photograph on dibond, 1/1, 39.37 x 29.52 inches. Courtesy Galerie Fortlaan 17.

"Honeydripper" by Jeff Perrott, 2011. Oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches. Courtesy LaMontagne Gallery.

"Coward" by Patrick Brennan. Courtesy HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY.

"Charmer" by Aakash Nihalani, 2010. Video. Courtesy Carmichael Gallery.

"Veil" by Janet Werner, 2011. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy Parisian Laundry.

"Hairoism" by Ashery Oreet, 2001. C-print, 43 x 55 inches. Courtesy Pristine Gallery.

BASIC INFO: VOLTA NY is being held from Mar 8 to 11 at 7 West 34th Street between 5th & 6th Avenue, New York, NY. Hours are Thursday from 2 to 7 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday to Sunday. Tickets are $15 or $40 for a dual pass with The Armory Show. The dual pass can be purchased online via Volta’s website. A shuttle runs between the two fairs.
http://ny.voltashow.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Visual Diary – Sculpture at Dowling College

DISPATCH – Mar 4, 2012 (2:15 p.m.)

Oakdale, NY

A recent visit to an outdoor sculpture exhibition evoked a range of intriguing responses to the concise installation. ”Sites for Sculpture” at Dowling College in Oakdale presents a single work by six sculptures installed in a single location. The art was selected by Guild Hall chief curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield and Pam Brown, director of The Anthony Giordano Gallery at the college.

Exhibiting artists are Breon Dunigan, Dorothy Frankel, Elaine Grove, Gloria Kisch, Wendy Klemperer and Arden Scott. Four of the six artists are from the East End (Frankel, Grove, Kisch and Scott).

The artists selected for the show demonstrate a range of contemporary sculpture but not the full scope of work being made in the genre, according to Strassfield.

“When examining the group of sculpture assembled here, one is struck by their dissimilarity, but what does unite the group is the seemingly limitless exploration of ideas, materials, and methods of working,” Strassfield wrote in an exhibition statement. “The quality of the work in this exhibition is of the highest caliber, with innovation and skill expertly combined.”

The sculptures struck me as whimsical, stately, elegant or intriguing. Having all the works installed within strolling distance gave me the chance to revisit the art easily while still responding to the exhibition as a whole.

"Roaming Elk" by Wendy Klemperer, 2004. Steel.

"Infinite Pacifics" by Arden Scott, 2004. Bronze, lead and stones.

"Hearing Trumpet", "Guardian" and "Torison" by Breon Dunigan, 2003. Bronze.

"Ezekiel's Wheel" by Elaine Grove, 1991. Steel.

"Flower Portals" by Gloria Kisch, 2009. Stainless steel and bronze.

"L.O.V.E." by Dorothy Frankel, 2003. Bronze.

BASIC FACTS: “Sites for Sculpture” remains on view through July 2012. It was installed in July 2011 and unveiled on Oct 15, 2011 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and artist talk.

The show is open to the public. Admission is free. The show is located at Dowling College, 96 Biltmore Avenue, Oakdale between Fortunoff Hall and the Racanelli Center. www.Dowling.edu

Breon Dunigan: www.artstrand.com

Dorothy Frankel: www.dorothyfrankel.com

Gloria Kisch: www.gloriakisch.com

Wendy Klemperer: www.wendyklemperer.com

Arden Scott: www.ardenscott.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Searching for the “Mother Lode”

DISPATCH – Mar 3, 2012 (9:52 a.m.)

Southampton, NY

There’s something about the ocean and it’s partnering with sandy shores that invokes fantasies of chasing adventures lying beyond the horizon and staying still to enjoy the soothing vista. Photography by Patti Courville manages to channel both wishes into works that present findings from a personal search for meaning and the discovery of value.

Courville’s solo exhibition ”Mother Lode” opening tonight (Mar 3) at 4 North Main Street Gallery in Southampton. The show presents “treasures found” in the form of noteworthy moments noticed along the way and an appreciation for waterside views of Long Island.

“Lobster Inn Sunflower” by Patti Courville

The exhibition’s title, “Mother Lode,” is a double entendre, said Courville. “In one way, it’s a metaphor for personal and spiritual search to find the great value within and express it through art and techniques, refined as part of life’s journey in learning in expressing,” she said. “In another way, it’s a look at what we attract, covet and collect that has meaning and value to us.”

The photograph, “Mother Lode” was captured during a ”slow-moving event as the sea kelp drifted up to greet me, curl up and wave, then slip back into the Pacific,” Courville said. “People and situations are like this in life: they come and go…we come and go…but ultimately, we are ’traveling’ and, hopefully, pausing to enjoy the view.”

“Mother Lode” by Patti Courville

Ultimately, the search for the Mother Lode of the perfect image or perfect moment is also a spiritual search and a discovery of self. Realizations can crystallize the values, experiences and memories held most dear, said Courville.

“East Hampton Lifeguard” by Patti Courville

“Memorabilia” by Patti Courville

Some photographs capture transitions where loss and change gives way to enlightenment, hope and optimism, Courville said. Others celebrate pristine beaches and the “sunny day / blue sky feelings” caused by noticing them. Still others pay homage to natural places on the East End that have been lost to construction.

“Fire Island Wagon” by Patti Courville

As a whole, the show provides uplifting images that offer optimism and the belief that happiness exists even during times of transition and loss, said Courville. Taking time to slow down and notice the arrival of the sublime may be the key.

“Moonrise Dune Road Ocean” by Patti Courville

“Mother Lode” presents a range of printing techniques that Courville has been exploring over the years. They range from traditional silver gelatin prints to ink jet.

From “Sunlite Series” by Patti Courville

Beach glass jewelry handmade by Gerarda Boger of Southold is also part of the show. Both women take an organic approach to making art and keeping the work authentic, Courville said. Boger is a perennial plant “propagator” at The Plantage in Cutchogue when she’s not making jewelry.

East End Beach Glass. Photograph by Patti Courville.

East End Beach Glass. Photograph by Patti Courville.

BASIC FACTS: “Mother Lode” will be on view from Mar 3 to 12 at 4 North Main Gallery, Southampton, NY. The exhibition is a solo exhibition of photography by Patti Courville with jewelry made by Gerarda Boger for East End Beach Glass. An opening will be held tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. Besides the opening, tea and cookies will be served on weekends.

4 North Main Street Gallery is located at 4 North Main Street in Southampton.  
http://4northmaingallery.com/

Patti Courville: www.etsy.com/shop/gardengravure. Courville’s website will go live shortly:
http://www.patticourville.com/

East End Beach Glass: www.eastendbeachglass.com/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Art Openings Abound in Southampton

DISPATCH – Mar 2, 2012 (11:55 p.m.)

Southampton, NY

Southampton is having a mini-art explosion with three concurrent art openings converging on the village. Need more? Visit a photography exhibition already in progress or head to Bridgehampton for a group show to keep the art viewing going.

Saturday sees the opening of a major exhibition of Southern California art at the Parrish Art Museum. The exhibition “EST-3: Southern California in New York” features Los Angeles Art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. The show was organized by David Pagel, the Parrish’s Los Angeles-based adjunct curator.

The exhibition opens at 6 p.m. with a video providing a “behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of an exhibition” followed by a conversation between Pagel and Beth Rudin DeWoody. The pre-opening program already has a full house but the reception at 7 p.m. is still open. Parrish Members attend for free. Admission for non-members is $10.

“EST-3: Southern California in New York” remains on view through Jun 17. The Parrish Art Museum is located at 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. 
http://parrishart.org/

"Interlocking Forms" by Karl Benjamin, 1959. Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody.

"Same difference" by Frederick Hammersley, 1959. Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody.

Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday is ”The Beast in Art.” The solo show by Sheila Isham is being held at the Levitas Center for the Arts at the Southampton Cultural Center (SCC). The exhibition features paintings and drawings by Isham. The solo show was awarded to Isham after winning Best in Show at SCC’s first Juried Art Exhibition held last year.

“The Beast in Art” continues through Mar 28. SCC is located at 25 Pond Lane, Southampton.
http://southamptonculturalcenter.org/

"Soul of the Beast II - Lioness" by Sheila Isham, 2006.

Also opening is ”Mother Lode,” a solo photography show by Patti Courville. The work captures rewards discovered in quiet seaside moments while undergoing a personal search for meaning, what’s valued and spirituality. The opening takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. at 4 North Main Gallery, Southampton. “Mother Lode” remains on view through Mar 12. The exhibition includes beach glass jewelry made by Gerarda Boger for East End Beach Glass.
http://4northmaingallery.com/

"East Hampton Lifeguard" by Patti Courville

If you’re looking for art to view before the openings, the Southampton Historical Society won’t disappoint. The museum is exhibiting two portrait photography series. “Shopkeepers of Southampton: Photographs by Davis Gaffga” features images made by Gaffga as a special project.

The photographs were made over the last year and feature locally-owned businesses, their owners and employees, according to the museum. Included in the show are images depicting Herricks Hardware, Hildreth’s Department Store, Corwith Pharmacy and others.

"Catena's" by Davis Gaffga

The second exhibition is ”Our Southampton: Photographs by Nina Kennedy.” Portraits of ”ordinary” Southampton residents were made while writing the final book in the “Our Southampton” trilogy with co-author Jacqueline S. Scerbinski. ”The Third of Us: Our Southampton Part 3: More Family Stories & Food Traditions” was released in 2011.

Each resident told a story and contributed a favorite recipe for the book. Photographs were taken of each person interviewed.

"Elizabeth Tureski" by Nina Kennedy

Both exhibitions remain on view through Apr 28. The Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rogers Mansion, 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton. Admission is $4 and free for members and children.
http://southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org/

A short car ride away in Bridgehampton, the opening for the third (and final) Bonac Tonic group show at their temporary space at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts takes place on Saturday. “Third Time’s a Charm” features art by Marcie Honerkamp, Chick Bills, Ryan F. Kennedy and Oliver Peterson. The show also includes art by exhibitors in the previous Tonic Artspace shows.

Saturday’s opening will feature video projections cast on the outside of the gallery by multiple artists, as long as the weather cooperates.

The opening will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. at Tonic Artspace, 2418 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton. The gallery’s open from Friday through Monday.
http://www.haffnervision.com/

"Pig2" by Marcie Honerkamp. Mosaic.

"Board on the Wall" by Ryan F. Kennedy

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Islip Art Museum – Feb and March 2012

DISPATCH – Feb 26, 2012 (11:15 a.m.)

East Islip, NY

The Islip Art Museum recently opened three exhibitions that include Hamptons talent from the past and present. Exhibition openings were held today (Feb 26) from 1 to 4 p.m. for “Prints Please: Selections from United Limited Art Editions”; “Winter Tempest: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” curated by Janet Goleas; and a solo exhibition by printmaker Rosamaria Eisler. All three exhibitions feature art worth noting. They remain on view through March 25.

“Winter Tempest” includes Hamptons-based artists Perry Burns, Jane Martin, Michael Rosch and Frank Wimberley. Other artists include Serena Bocchino, Mei Savage Brady, Nade Haley, Eleanor Honig, Ann Shore and Richard Ziello.

The works in “Winter Tempest” were selected for the ways each ”examines aspects of visual tumult, illusion and the emotive surge that seems to weave in and out of Shakespeare’s final drama,” according to Goleas.

“The Tempest” was the final play by William Shakespeare. Written in 1611, it features crashing themes of “turmoil and rage, survival and loss, love and ambiguity,” according to a release from the museum.

“Prints Please” puts on view lithographs, prints and intaglios by well-known artists of the 20th century that were made by Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE). Artists who made use of the Long Island print studio include Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, Cy Twombly, James Rosenquist, Robert Motherwell and others, according to the Islip Art Museum.

"For Alice" by Bill Jensen, 1990. Edition 45. Intaglio in 7 colors. 54.61 cm x 55.25 cm. Published by ULAE.

"The Wonderfulness of Downtown" by Jane Hammond, 1997. Lithograph and silkscreen in 39 colors with collage. 150.50 cm by 157.48 cm. Edition 50. Published by ULAE.

ULAE got its start in 1957 after encouragement by William Lieberman, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art. ULAE’s first publication was “Stones,” a 13-page portfolio / book by Frank O’Hara, a New York poet, writer and art critic. Afterwards, artists including Grace Hartigan, Helen Frankenthaler and Pop artist Marisol were inspired to seek ULAE to explore this new medium and print their art, according to the museum’s release.

“Prints Please” includes works by Rosenquist, Rauschenberg, Johns, Kiki Smith, Cy Twombly, Larry Rivers, James Siena and Jane Hammond. Exhibiting artists also include Lee Bontecou, Cecily Brown, Sam Francis, Orly Gerger, Bill Jensen, Joey Kotting, Julian Lethbridge, Suzanne McClelland, Elizabeth Murray, Terry Winters and Lisa Yuskavage.

"Campaign" by James Rosenquist, 1965. Lithograph in 4 colors. 74.93 cm x 55.88 cm. Edition 26. Published by ULAE.

"Footsie" by Cecily Brown, 2000. Lithograph in 10 colors. 111.13 cm x 85.09 cm. Edition 33. Published by ULAE.

"Shoe String" by Elizabeth Murray, 1993. Three-dimensional lithograph in 21 colors. 103.51 cm x 85.73 cm x 12.7 cm. Edition 70. Published by ULAE.

"Homecoming" by Kiki Smith, 2008. Intaglio with hand coloring. 53.34 cm x 71.12 cm. Edition 30. Published by ULAE.

An Islip Art Museum fundraiser on March 23 will feature a tour of the ULAE studios in Bay Shore.

Printmaker Rosamaria Eisler is presenting a mini-solo, “Mythical Atmospheres” in the museum’s store. Eisler’s work stems from her ”daily experiences, reflections, emotions and observations,” according to her website. Her art was included in the 2011 Patchogue Arts Biennial. Also in 2011, she was an artist-in-residence at East End Arts in Riverhead.

Art by Rosamaria Eisler

BASIC FACTS:

The Islip Art Museum is located at 52 Irish Lane, East Islip. For details, visit
http://islipartmuseum.org/
. All three exhibitions remain on view through March 25.

United Limited Art Editions (ULAE) is located in Bay Shore, Long Island, NY.  Established in 1957 by Tatyana Grosman, they continue to publish small edition prints and artist books. www.ulae.com/

Janet Goleas is an independent curator and arts writer. She is based in East Hampton. Her contemporary art blog, Blinnk, can be found here:
http://blinnk.blogspot.com/

Rosamaria Eisler: www.rosamariaeisler.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Speaking Up for Larry Rivers “Legs”

DISPATCH – Feb 21, 2012 (9:35 p.m.)

SAG HARBOR, NY

If you like “Legs,” the time to speak up is running out. The controversy centers on the sidewalk-adjacent installation of the Larry Rivers sculpture, “Legs.”

“Legs” is installed on the grounds of a private home in Sag Harbor owned by art gallerist Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr. The artwork has been deemed a “structure” by Sag Harbor Village, making its current location a violation of village zoning laws.

Sag Harbor’s Zoning Board of Appeals will rule next month on whether or not the sculpture must be removed. Written comments will be accepted through March 2 by Sag Harbor Village.

“Legs” by Larry Rivers.

The labeling of art as structure–thus lumping it in with garages, sheds, decks, and other permanent additions–is causing a firestorm in the Hamptons art community.

Opponents are bristling at the reclassification of art as architectural object. At a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting on Feb 21, a few people in favor of letting the “Legs” continue to stride called for the ZBA to walk away by kicking the “structure” classification back to the Village Board for reconsideration.

Other objectors expressed outrage that art and artistic expression (and free speech by extension) are being regulated by Sag Harbor Village–which has its own significant art history and thriving art community today.

Still others said “Legs” has become a staple of the Sag Harbor landscape with visitors seeking to see it.

Zoning Board members repeatedly stated they were not passing judgment on the Larry Rivers artwork–or on art in general–but need to render a decision on whether “Legs” as a structure should be granted a variance so it can remain in its current location. The impact “Legs” has on neighbors and the area must be weighed against the benefit for the owner, several board members said.

ZBA members also expressed fear of setting a precedent that would unlock flood gates for sculptures to appear in mass throughout the village without zoning regulations to protect the rights of residents and the community in general.

“Legs” came under village scrutiny when a building inspector issued a code violation to the artwork as non-conforming to the Village’s Building Code. Located in public view on private property, “Legs” is installed inside a garden box abutting the home of Vered and Lehr.

According to Village Code, “Legs” has an insufficient setback from the property line (one foot versus 35 feet); is too tall (it is just over 16 feet tall and the maximum allowed is 15 feet); and it extends too far into the sky plane by 16.7 cubic feet.

The relabeling of art as structure by Sag Harbor Village means the sculpture needs to be granted a special exception from the code by the Zoning Board if it is to remain. If not, “Legs” needs to come down since it violates the village building code.In recent weeks, a letter-writing campaign was waged by the Larry Rivers Foundation and by a number of area residents. Richard A. Hammer, the attorney representing Vered and Lehr, presented the ZBA with a petition of 430 names expressing support for ”Legs.” Hammer also presented 62 letters in favor of “Legs” standing its ground collected by the Larry Rivers Foundation.

Written comments will be accepted by the Village until Mar 2. The matter will be reconsidered by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Mar 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Larry Rivers (1923-2002) is considered to be one of the founders of Pop Art. His work influenced Andy Warhol, according to the Larry Rivers Foundation. According to their website, Warhol spoke supportively of Rivers’s work and influence in the Pop Art movement.

“Larry’s painting style was unique – it wasn’t Abstract Expressionism and it wasn’t Pop, it fell into the period in between. But his personality was very Pop” –Andy Warhol from the book, “Popism.”

“Legs” was first created by Rivers in 1969 as part of ”Forty Feet of Fashion,” commissioned by the developer of the Smithhaven Mall on Long Island, according to David Joel, the executive director of the Larry Rivers Foundation in Bridgehampton. The “Legs” installed in Sag Harbor is from a second casting in 1994 made for a private collector. It was later acquired by Vered.

BASIC FACTS:

Larry Rivers Foundation:
http://larryriversfoundation.org

“Legs” and Forty Feet of Fashion History: Sag Harbor Express Story written by Helen Harrison (art critic and Director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in East Hampton):
http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/xtras/lets-see-your-legs-larry-9032

Vered Gallery: Contains info on the “Legs” battle and Larry Rivers. www.veredart.com

Sag Harbor Village Hall: 55 Main Street, PO Box 660, Sag Harbor, NY 11963. The fax number is 631-725-0316. www.sagharborny.gov

“Legs” by Larry Rivers installed in Sag Harbor. The building formerly housed the Bethel Baptist Church before being renovated into a private residence.

UPDATE – Mar 24, 2012 (1:36 p.m.) The decision of whether they stay or if they go (Larry Rivers’ “Legs”) was tabled for another month by the Sag Harbor Village Zoning Board. The next meeting will be held on Apr 17, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.

UPDATE – Apr 17, 2012 (10:00 p.m.) - The Sag Harbor Village Zone Board gave “Legs” their walking papers at its Zoning Board of Appearls meeting. The board rejected an application by Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr for a variance that would allow Larry River’s “Legs” to remain alongside the couple’s Sag Harbor home. The sculpture was installed around three years ago, according to the Sag Harbor Express. The artwork, as installed, violates setbacks and other regulations for structures erected within the Village of Sag Harbor. 

“Legs” was ordered to be removed by September 15. Further actons may unfold so the story continues…

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub LLC 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Veers and Swerves for Complementary Paintings

DISPATCH – Feb 4, 2012 (3:47 p.m.)

EAST HAMPTON, NY

The paintings seem like they barely avert a clash. Barely. One painter favors soft compositions and the other likes edge. There’s motion, but each artist portrays it differently. There’s harmony between the artworks. An attraction to similar color palettes is evident. Shapes used as vocabulary quell any uneasiness. In the end, artworks made by two different painters seem to complement each other. But then again…

These intrigues come as a side dish served in a compelling two-person show at Halsey Mckay Gallery in East Hampton. Creating the visual conversation are paintings by Louisa Chase and Sally Egbert.

"Clown Face" by Louisa Chase.

"Moon" by Sally Egbert.

Friends in real life, the two women wanted to exhibit their paintings in a single show, said Ryan Wallace, co-owner and co-director of Halsey Mckay Gallery. They also wanted to exhibit in the “off-season” so the show could be more easily seen by the local community instead of crunched in the jangle of art exhibitions held in the summer.

There are enough similarities between the two to pair the paintings together, Wallace said. There are enough differences to give pause. Ultimately, it may the artists’ shared attraction to shapes, motion and saturated color in their artwork that provides a bridge for paintings that want to go together.

Paintings by Sally Egbert (left) and Louisa Chase (right) installed at Halsey Mckay Gallery.

Chase’s art features saturated colors that “often combine static geometric figures with gestural marks culled from the same starting point,” according the gallery. Paintings represent a single object that’s abstracted yet identifiable. Motion is evident. Scribbles can range from energetic to frenzy with a purpose. Line, color and shape all seem to be equally important.

“The paintings always look like something to Louisa,” said Wallace. “It could be a clown face, a snowflake, a Buddha or whatever. She makes her paintings quickly and there’s a directness in the work.”

"Buddha" by Louisa Chase.

"Hokey Pokey" by Louisa Chase.

Egbert also depicts objects in her art. She’s inspired by the landscape and is especially drawn to linear structures like bare tree branches bathed in local Hamptons light.

Like Chase, Egbert’s paintings feature saturated colors. Unlike Chase, Egbert creates compositions that seem as if they’re drifting in a pond or floating while being gently carried by a lazy river in late summer. Her paintings are lush and sensual. The prominent shapes attract attention before the eye finds its way into the deep layers of color.

"Memory Flowers" by Sally Egbert.

"Blue" by Sally Egbert.

Both painters occupy a similar place where gesture links abstraction to representation yet remains apart from both genres. Chase and Egbert demonstrate the possibilities of variation. The exhibition resonates long after leaving the gallery.

BASIC FACTS: “Louisa Chase & Sally Egbert” is on view at the Halsey Mckay Gallery through Feb 7. The gallery is open by appointment. The show presents new paintings and works on paper by Chase & Egbert.

On view in a separate gallery is ”Fourth Estate Editions,” which includes selections of editioned work by Joseph Hart, Glen Baldridge, Kate Shepherd, Ruby Sky Stiler and others.

Halsey Mckay Gallery: www.halseymckay.com.

In NYC, Halsey Mckay Gallery is currently presenting “Patrick Brennan – Moon Drawings, iMovies & Mirrors For Eyes” through March 3 at 195 East 3rd Street, New York, NY. www.thewildproject.com.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Black, White and Red for Outsider Art Fair

DISPATCH – Jan 28, 2012 (1:53 p.m.)

QUOGUE & MANHATTAN, NY

The well-worn riddle “What’s black and white and red all over?” may now have another answer. The new response (besides the classic answer: ”A newspaper”) could be art by Candyce Brokaw made for the Outsider Art Fair.

Tabletop by Candyce Brokaw

Brokaw’s new artwork is mostly black and white with dollops of red accenting the compositions. The three-tone palette is a departure from the riot of colors she typically uses to create her personal art.

OAF opened Jan 26 with a ticketed preview. The fair is presented from Jan 27 to 29 at 7 West 34th Street in Manhattan.

This is OAF’s 20th anniversary and a full slate of programming is on the schedule. OAF presents works by self-taught artists who primarily make art for their own satisfaction or for small groups of people who appreciate their work, according to fair presenters Sanford L. Smith & Associates. Artwork exhibited is not typically included in commercial or mainstream art circuits.

Gallery exhibitors make up the crux of the fair. In addition, there are panel discussions, talks and film screenings on each day of the fair. See www.sanfordsmith.com.

This weekend is Brokaw’s fourth appearance at OAF. In her first year, she presented her art inside a truck parked outside the fair with fellow outsider artist Ross Brodar, Brokaw said. Since then, both now have gallery representation that brought them inside the art fair. This year, both are represented by Olof Art Gallery of the Netherlands. Brokaw has exhibited with Olof Art Gallery for three years at OAF. Her work has been shown in the United States and abroad.

For this year’s fair, Brokaw decided to take chances with her art. She moved away from chaotic constructions of color, went with larger surfaces and included new mediums. The artist also decided to forgo making the thousands of dots that are typically part of her art.

“The work is a departure from what I typically do,” Brokaw said. “People who know my work will be surprised. Like a lot of artists, I go through different periods with my art and I wanted show that.”

View of Brokaw's art in the Olof Art Gallery booth at OAF 2012.

"Too Many Words" by Candyce Brokaw

Brokaw's art at OAF 2012

A partial view of a three-sided screen by Candyce Brokaw.

Making a three-panel screen is something Brokaw does once a year. It’s a labor-intensive process that involves quilting together a patchwork of small paintings on one side and making a large painting for the other side. This year’s screen contains 125 small paintings, she said. Each is 5 by 7 inches.

Brokaw working on this year's screen.

Brokow's screen in process.

Brokaw looks forward to the annual OAF as an artist and as the founder/director of the Survivors Art Foundation (SAF). The non-profit organization is based in Quogue in the Hamptons.

The art fair allows Brokaw to meet artists she’s only connected with virtually. There’s the possibility of meeting others interested in presenting collaborative art projects that aim to heal through art. OAF also provides the opportunity to see works by outsider artist masters who exhibit at museums around the world.

OAF attracts art collectors from around the world, people interested in outsider art and the curious, Brokaw said.

Exhibitors include The Museum of Everything from London, England; Galerie Les Singuliers from Paris, France; The Pardee Collection of Iowa City, Iowa and others.

“There’s a mix,” Brokaw said. “There’s cutting edge and traditional folk art and everything in between. There’s really something for everyone.”

The steady stream of art fair visitors allows Brokaw’s art to be seen. She’s usually on hand to offer insights into the art to those that are interested, Brokaw said. Receiving feedback is a high point of the experience. So is being part of the fair.

“It’s a real privilege to be included in the Outsider Art Fair,” Brokaw said. “There are artists from around the world, famous galleries and artists you wouldn’t be able to see unless you go to a museum. There’s not many museums that specialize in this type of art, so it’s a rare opportunity. It’s a thrill to be part of it.”

BASIC FACTS: Outsider Art Fair 2012 will be held from Jan 27 to 29, 2012 at 7 West 34th Street at 5th Avenue, New York, NY. OAF is open until 7 p.m. tonight (Jan 28) and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow (Jan 29). For details, programs and an exhibitor list, visit www.sanfordsmith.com.

Olof Art Gallery is exhibiting at Booth C9. Artists include Candyce Brokaw,  Ross Brodar, Alison Silva, Arthur Klein, Ian Pyper, Daniel Belardinelli and others. www.olof-art.nl

Candyce Brokaw’s art can be viewed at www.visionary-art.net.

Survivors Art Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering healing for trauma survivors through art. For details, visit www.survivorsartfoundation.org/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Street Art Inside

DISPATCH – JAN 6, 2012 (12:55 p.m.)

NEW YORK CITY, NY

Every once in a while, it becomes easy to see a survey of contemporary street art. The chance to view a variety of New York City street art is now possible at a gallery on the Lower East Side.

On Saturday (Jan 7), ”Rather Unique” opens at the Woodward Gallery. A reception is being held from 6 to 8 p.m. On view are works by 20 street or graffiti artists who have been consistently striving to get their public art noticed and recognized, according to a press release.

Exhibiting artists were chosen as standouts in the street art or graffiti genres, according to the Woodward Gallery. Each artist is ”commonly driven to share art with their peers without constraints,” according to a press release. Artists were selected and the show curated by Harlem street artist Royce Bannon.

One of the artists selected for “Rather Unique” goes by the name infinity. I’ve been following infinity’s work for several years after seeing art on canvas exhibited in the Hamptons. infinity combines science, philosophy and connectivity in his layered art. Human links and ties between mankind and nature are part of the work. Ancient symbols from various cultures add spirituality to the colorful and complex compositions.

infinity makes art solo and in tandem with other street artists. Here’s some of the work included in “Rather Unique”:

"The Boiling Beaker" by infinity and Royce B

"Personality" by infinity

"Spores" by infinity

"Singularities" by infinity

"RRRedemption" by infinity

“Rather Unique” is the Woodward Gallery’s way of acknowledging “these most contemporary of artists and their contribution to the new world of art,” according to the exhibition information.

Exhibiting artists are Cassius Fowler, Celso, Chris RWK, Cope2, Darkcloud, H.veng.Smith, Indie184, infinity, KA, Keely, Kenji Nakayama, Kosbe, Matt Siren, Moody, Nose Go, Royce B, Russell King, UR New York, Veng and Wrona.

For an exhibition preview: www.12ozprophet.com/index.php/news/preview-rather-unique-woodward-gallery

BASIC FACTS: “Rather Unique” is on view from Jan 7 to Feb 19 at the Woodward Gallery, 133 Eldridge Street, First Floor, New York, NY. www.woodwardgallery.net/

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Art in 2011

DISPATCH – Dec 31, 2011 (3:07 p.m.)

HAMPTONS, NY

2011 was a great year for art! Of course, on the East End of Long Island, pretty much every year is a great year for art. Installation and outdoor sculpture seemed to be particularly prominent this year. Here’s a sample of some of the works installed during 2011:

OUTDOORS

DALE CHIHULY

The renowned American glass sculptor created two outdoor installations for LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton. They were unveiled, with much fanfare, during LongHouse’s summer benefit, “White Hot and Blue,” held on July 16. Chihuly is a lifelong friend of LongHouse founder Jack Lenor Larsen, and the installations were made to celebrate LongHouse’s 20th anniversary.

"Blue & Purple Boat" by Dale Chihuly

"White Beluge" by Dale Chihuly

MEL KENDRICK

Playful squares of colored concrete gave a new look to the grounds of the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton. “jacks” by Mel Kendrick was installed in July. Their arrival was timed to the Dorothea Rockburne solo exhibition inside the museum. Kendrick was a former art assistant to Rockburne.

Each of the four pieces in “jacks” is 11-foot high and made of concrete cast in bands of black and white. Kendrick’s work is concerned with “process, space and geometry,” according to the Parrish Art Museum. Kendrick’s work is held in numerous museum collections. He is represented by Mary Boone Gallery. For the installation experience, see Hamptons Art Hub post, “New Sculpture Arrives at Parrish Art Museum.”

"jacks" by Mel Kendrick. Courtesy Parrish Art Museum.

ALEXIS LAURENT

The French-born artist created an installation specifically for artMRKT Hamptons. “BILLBOARD, 2011″ was a U-shaped wall containing more than 600 steel boxes providing homes for over 1,000 plants with 10 different forms of succulents. Windows encouraged interaction with the art. The slogan, “We need to think outside the box more than ever” was painted on the “back” side of the work.

Laurent’s work is concerned with integrating art with urban settings and the ways art can improve the quality of life in cities, he said. “BILLBOARD, 2011″ is a “fantasy of a billboard by a highway delivering a message about the environment with its array of flora,” Laurent stated. The artist is based in San Francisco, CA. He was represented at artMRKT Hamptons by Leila Heller Gallery.

Alexis Laurent with his installation "BILLBOARD, 2011"

Detail of "BILLBOARD, 2011"

"BILLBOARD, 2011" by Alexis Laurent. The work was 15-foot long and 10-foot wide.

MIKE HANSEL

Two sculptures by Mike Hansel of Rhode Island were selected for the 2011 Brecknock Hall Outdoor Sculpture show. The rough textures and nod to industrial assemblage are part of the beauty. So is the understated sense of whimsy.

"Hard Knocks" by Mike Hansel at Brecknock Hall

Detail of "Hard Knocks"

Sculpture by Mike Hansel

INDOOR-OUTDOOR

BRYAN HUNT

Sculptor Bryan Hunt’s work was part of a two-person exhibition at Guild Hall in East Hampton in late June and July. Organic and modern, Hunt’s art is inspired by his quest to “capture water as a found object and sculptural element,” according to New York City’s Department of Parks & Recreation. Sculpture is typically made from molten metal to simulate arrested water, according to a press release.

Moreover, Hunt’s art is more typically installed outside. Smaller works in clay by Hunt were exhibited at The Drawing Room in East Hampton in conjunction with the Guild Hall exhibition. After the Guild Hall show closed, several of the major works from his ”Waterfall” series were installed at Park Avenue Mall in Manhattan. Ten sculptures were on view from September through mid-November.

Installation view at Guild Hall of sculpture by Bryan Hunt

"Flume II" from Waterfall series on Park Avenue by Bryan Hunt.

"White Rhyton" by Bryan Hunt. Exhibited at The Drawing Room.

Bryan Hunt in his Wainscott studio.

DON SACO

Saco was another sculptor who had indoor and outdoor installations in 2011. Inside, Saco’s work was exhibited in a solo show and as part of a group show at the Levitas Center for the Arts at Southampton Cultural Center. Outside, Saco’s work was part of the Brecknock Hall Outdoor Sculpture Show in Greenport. Taken together, the indoor and outdoor installations offered a mini-retrospective of Saco’s work. He is based in Water Mill.

"Quintet 5" by Don Saco

"Woodwinds" by Don Saco

Don Saco next to his art at the opening of "Material Matters" at the Levitas Center for the Arts.

Sculpture by Don Saco exhibited at "Material Matters"

INSIDE

CHRIS DUNCAN

The California-based artist had a solo exhibition in July at Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton that presented his eye-catching art to its full advantage.

BEN BUTLER & MICHAEL ROSCH

A pair of sculptors teamed up to create an interactive installation at the Silas Marder Gallery in Bridgehampton. The result was “Architecture of a Bomb.” The installation was extended into a four-month run. (See Hamptons Art Hub post, “Architecture of a Bomb using Spare Parts.)

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

JUDITH MOTZKIN

Motzkin unveiled an installation of ceramics, rope and sea-tossed materials in August in the group exhibition “About the Sea” at the South Street Gallery in Greenport. The group show united Long Island and New England artists addressing    “…the elemental, poetic, practical and other-worldly aspects of the ocean.” It was curated by Kate Ledogar of Boston.

“Wash Ashore” by Motzkin occupied an angular swath of the gallery. The installation was made up of six ceramic installations. While the pieces look like shells, they are actually ceramic. Motzkin included flame-print and smoke ceramics in the installation. She is based in Cambridge, MA.

"Wash Ashore" by Judith Motzkin

Detail of "Wash Ashore"

Detail of "Wash Ashore"

MOST UNUSUAL

STEVE ZALUSKI’S Rolling Sphere

I first saw Zaluski’s rolling steel sculpture at the chanting-music event, “Harmony of the Spheres” at Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton on June 21. Zaluski climbed inside the round sculpture and rolled it among Walter Channing’s sculptures permanently installed on the grounds.

Zaluski’s rolling sculpture, most often the ”Humansphere” artwork, made guest appearances at ”Love and Passion 6″ exhibition at Ashawagh Hall in East Hampton on Feb 12, 2011; at ArtHamptons in Bridgehampton in July; during the July opening of the group sculpture exhibition “Uncommon Grounds II” at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton and at the Karyn Mannix Contemporary group exhibition, “Eleven” at Ashawagh Hall on Nov 5.

Zaluski’s inhabiting of his steel sculpture is performance art, he said. Zaluski often plays harmonica while roving around in his 7-foot artwork on the streets or in grassy fields. He is based in Ronkonkoma, NY.

Steve Zaluski inside his rolling steel sculpture at the "Harmony of the Spheres" concert on June 21 at Channing Daughters Winery.

Happy New Year! Thanks for a great 2011.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Composer’s Wins Keep Coming

DISPATCH – Dec 24, 2011 (12:31 p.m.)

SHELTER ISLAND, NY

Composer Bruce Wolosoff has two wins topping a music-filled year. A new full-length recording of his music, ”Many Worlds,” was released on Dec 12. The ballet, “White City: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893″ has just made some waves. The ballet is based on music written by Wolosoff.

“White City” was selected for the top spot as the Best Dance in 2011 by Chicago Sun-Times dance critic Hedy Weiss. The story, “11 for ’11: The year’s best dance” was published on Dec 22, 2011. The ballet premiered this year.

Scene from "White City"

“White City” is an original ballet featuring choreography by Ann Reinking, a Tony Award-winning choreographer, and Melissa Thodos for Thodos Dance Chicago.

The ballet is based on actual events. It tells the tale of a serial killer who used Chicago’s 1893 World Fair (Columbian Exposition of 1893) to attract victims to his “Murder Castle.”

The one-act ballet incorporates period costumes, video projections by filmmaker Chris Olsen and a libretto in the program, according to Chicago3media.com.

“White City” was set to Wolosoff’s “Songs without Words.” Music was performed live on stage by the Carpe Diem String Quartet, who had previously commissioned Wolosoff to write the music.

Scene from "White City"

“White City” premiered on Feb 19, 2011 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, IL. It was performed on March 4 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago.

Scene from "White City"

The music in “Songs with Words” marries classical music with blues, classic rock, rhythm and blues or torch songs. The “songs” are radio-length (around three minutes) as if they were contenders in a musical fray, wanting to be noticed and selected for air time on popular radio stations.

Carpe Diem String Quartet asked Wolosoff to write music that combined classical and rock music. The musical mix was a first-time try for Wolosoff (he was already known for pairing jazz and classical in his work). “Songs without Words” premiered in Manhattan in 2008.

Wolosoff’s latest recording, “Many Worlds,” was released on Dec 12. The album features compositions by Wolosoff that can contain a unique mix of classical with jazz or blues. Music is performed by the composer-pianist.

"Many Worlds" by Bruce Wolosoff

“Many Worlds” is a live recording of a piano recital held on July 9, 2010 at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall.

The program included music written by Wolosoff but had never been performed by the pianist.

“It was the realization of a lifelong dream of mine to perform my own compositions, combining my earlier life as a concert pianist with my more mature work as a composer,” Wolosoff said. “I even improvised on the record!”

The recording was inspired by the death of Wolosoff’s teacher and close friend Charlie Banacos, who had always loved my playing, he said.

“My last communication from him was his daughter calling me from the hospital and saying, ‘Dad told me to call Bruce and tell him to practice,’” Wolosoff said. “The record is dedicated to him. I am very proud of it, how strong a personal statement that it makes.”

The recital was originally meant for the audience in attendance and a recording for private use only. Wolosoff had been invited to play at Guild Hall by artistic director Josh Gladstone. The recital was recorded by Wolosoff’s friend, Cynthia Daniels, on her insistence. Daniels is a Grammy winning recording engineer with a studio in East Hampton. Prior to the concert, Wolosoff had not performed the piano in public for 19 years.

“We didn’t know at the time that we were making a record for public release,” Wolosoff said. “The evening turned out so beautifully that we decided to release the performances.”

“Many Worlds” is available at Amazon.com and CDBaby. Digital downloads (iTunes, etc.) are available.

This month’s triumphs aren’t Wolosoff’s only reasons to celebrate 2011. The world premiere of Wolosoff’s “Tantric Scherzo” was performed by The Eroica Trio on May 8, 2011 at The Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan. The trio performed “Tantric Scherzo” again on July 17 at Guild Hall in East Hampton.

BASIC FACTS: Bruce Wolosoff’s compositions have been performed internationally and recorded frequently. Details can be found at
http://brucewolosoff.com
.

In the Hamptons, Wolosoff is also known for his work with the Creative Orchestra based at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton. The Creative Orchestra invites elementary students to compose original music and then perform student compositions in a public concert. Traditional and non-traditional instruments are encouraged. The premise is that everyone is capable of composing music.

Carpe Diem String Quartet is led by violinist Charles Wetherbee. For an ensemble line-up and details, visit www.cdsq.org

Thodos Dance Chicago specializes in contemporary dance. www.thodosdancechicago.org/

Eroica Trio is an internationally acclaimed trio. They perform internationally and have eight recordings with several Grammy nominations to their credit. www.eroicatrio.com/

Chicago Sun-Times dance selections for 2011:
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weiss/9536652-421/11-for-11-the-years-best-dance.html

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Visual Diary – Galleries Giving Thanks

DISPATCH – November 26, 2011 (Saturday, 9:35 p.m.)

Hamptons, NY

How do galleries give thanks? They fill their walls with art by gallery artists and hold special openings. At least, this is how three galleries choose to celebrate Thanksgiving. A fourth gallery expressed gratitude by exhibiting art celebrating romantic love made by the enraptured couple. All of the exhibitions remain on view through this weekend or beyond.

The final flurry of art openings on Thanksgiving weekend seemed the perfect excuse to pick up a camera and create the final Visual Diary of 2011. Following are snapshots of art noticed and artists supporting other artists.

Outside view of Silas Marder Gallery in Bridgehampton

My first stop was the Silas Marder Gallery in Bridgehampton. The gallery was holding a “Holiday Salon” to express thanks to supporters for the past seven years. The reception coincided with the Marder Garden Center and Nursery’s 38th Open House. The event traditionally kicks off the holiday season.

The “Holiday Salon” also opened the group exhibition, “America.” The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, mixed media works and “time-based media.” In the second story loft, the installation “Architecture of a Bomb” was held over for the occasion. (See separate Hamptons Art Hub story).

“Architecture of a Bomb” is a collaboration by sculptors Ben Butler and Michael Rosch. The pair of artists–who had never met before–were given one week and $40 to create a site-specific work from objects found on the grounds of Marder’s.

Exhibiting artist Eric Dever with artist Barbara Maslen at the entrance to "Architecture of a Bomb"

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

Exhibiting artists in “America” include Dever, Mica I. Marder, Charles Ly, Dennis Lawrence, Alexander Cheves, Christine Gray, Tony Ingrisano, John Morse, Robert Olsen and others.

Fine furniture designer Nico Yektai has ”Leaning Dovetails” in the exhibition. The piece enhances and accentuates dovetail joinery to conjure nature and the landscape, he said. The joinery’s jutting shapes conjures Taconic forces, Yektai said. The echoing ripples transforms the level table surface (and the method for joining wood pieces together) into an interesting implied landscape.

Detail of "Leaning Dovetails" by Nico Yektai.

Nearby, a painting by Aurora Robson caught my eye. I was unfamiliar with the artist and inquired to gallery manager Alana Leland. The artist uses recycled plants in her paintings and incorporates “free form organic forms” in her compositions, Leland said. Robson lives in Canada after relocating from Brooklyn, said Leland.

"Slip Into Something More Comfortable" by Aurora Robson, 2010. Acrylic and mica powder on panel, 36 x 36 inches.

A few feet away was a video installation by Tucker Marder. The artist visited four museums in New York City, deposited toys in plain view and filmed reactions to the plastic additions among the fine art, Leland said. The gallery installation was a looping 28-minute video. A row of toys appearing in the film lay at the foot of the projection.

"Toys at Museums" by Tucker Marder, 2011. Time-based media, 28 minutes.

The next stop was the Arthur T. Kalaher Fine Art Gallery in Southampton. The gallery opened a solo show of artwork made by romantic partners and artists Andrew Hart Adler and Carolyn Beegan. Adler is an abstract painter and a former Willem de Kooning assistant. Beegan is a painter and digital artist.

To celebrate their happiness, the couple collaborated on a series of abstracted figurative self-portraits and narrative works capturing their worldwide travels. The art begins with a photograph. A multi-step process weaving digital technology and painting is used to create original paintings.

Andrew Hart Adler and Carolyn A. Beegan with artist Henry Kohler in front of their painting, "Nexus."

Gallery owner Arthur T. Kalaher in front of "Eden, No. 2" by Andrew Hart Adler and Carolyn Beegan.

Artist Paton Miller and his son, Christian, at the opening of "Andrew Hart Adler & Carolyn Beegan: For 4 Hands"

A few steps away was the opening of “Thanksgiving Collective 2011″ at the Tripoli Gallery of Contemporary Art. The annual show gives viewers the chance to see what gallery artists have been up to and get to know some new artists. The exhibition includes art by Michael Chiarello, Eric Freeman, Felix Bonilla Gerena, Melanie J. Moczarski, John Ross Rist and Darius Yektai.

Paintings by Rist immediately jumped out at me. A mix of figurative painting, graffiti, abstract expressionism, street art and historic allusions, Rist’s compositions are eye-catching and filled with motion. When not making paintings, Rist works on his clothing designs. Since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, he’s launched the surf-skate clothing company, Brain-Stain.

The painting, “Dutchess” is part of the “Splatter Head Series” where Rist defaces representatives of historic imperialism in a protest against corruption and horror, explained Rist. The face of each portrait of a 16th to 18th century figure is shattered, spray-paint style, to channel anti-establishment sentiments.

John Ross Rist with "Dutchess," 2011. Oil and spray enamel on canvas, 39 x 24 inches.

Gallery owner Trip Patterson with artist John Ross Rist in front of two of his paintings.

Sculptor Michael Chiarello’s work was also persuasive. The most meaningful is the floor sculpture, “Where Do I Go From Here?,” he said. The artwork combines his prior style of sleek painted steel with his new direction of using raw and weathered materials, said Chiarello.

Michael Chiarello with "Where Do I Go From Here?," 2011. Steel with salvaged components, 102 x 76 x 50 inches.

Darius Yektai exhibited an abstract painting with plenty of mystery that grabbed my attention. The title held no clues. When queried, Yektai didn’t give up the artwork’s secrets.

"Untitled" by Darius Yektai, 2011. Oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inches.

Detail of "Untitled" by Darius Yektai.

Darius Yektai with Aziz, Tari and Darya Isham.

The final stop of the night took me to Sara Nightingale Gallery in Water Mill for the opening of “Tweakers.” The exhibition title is based on a Malcolm Gladwell quote describing a tweaker as someone who “inherits things as they are” and moves it closer toward perfection, according to Sara Nightingale.

The show featured art by Roisin Bateman, Sara Genn, the painting team of Yong Jo Ji & Anna Anatasova, Eric Dever, Brian O’Leary, Joseph Stabilito, Barry Underwood and Gus Yero. The artwork burst with color or presented elaborate textures couched in subdue palettes.

Roisin Batemen’s paintings were bright expressions of abstraction designed to satisfy the Ireland-born artist’s longing for color, she said. Her paintings conjure the possibilities when life is explored. Grounded in nature, her work typically includes all four elements (water, air, earth and fire) represented in color.

Roisin Bateman with "Monarch." Oil on canvas, 54 x 54 inches.

Painting by Roisin Bateman at the Sara Nightingale Gallery.

Another artist whose work caught my attention was Brian O’Leary. His paintings were intriguing and subtle. A look at the artwork label revealed he works with oil and tar to make his art.

"Pylon" by Brian O'Leary. Oil and tar on canvas, 20 x 20 inches.

A back corner of the gallery contained artwork in black:

"Blue Trace" by Barry Underwood, archival pigment print, 28 x 28 inches (left) with "1B1" by Eric Dever, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches (right).

BASIC FACTS:

Silas Marder Gallery: “America” and “Architecture of a Bomb” remains on view through Dec 18. The gallery is located at 120 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton. www.silasmarder.com

Arthur T. Kalaher Fine Art Gallery: “Andrew Hart Adler / Carolyn Beegan: For 4 Hands” is on view through Dec 17. The gallery is located at 28E Jobs Lane, Southampton. www.arthurtkalaherfineart.com

Tripoli Gallery of Contemporary Art: The 7th Annual “Thanksgiving Collective 2011″ remains on view through Jan 24, 2012. The gallery is located at 30A Jobs Lane, Southampton. www.tripoligallery.com

Sara Nightingale Gallery: Selections from “Tweakers” remains on view through December. The gallery is located at 688 Montauk Highway, Water Mill. www.saranightingale.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

“Architecture of a Bomb” using Spare Parts

DISPATCH – December 16, 2011 (3:46 p.m.)

BRIDGEHAMPTON, NY

The installation on the upper level of the Silas Marder Gallery is like an art wonderland. The trip begins with the installation announcement, clad in an ornate frame, placed at the foot of a wooden staircase:

“Architecture of a Bomb” is a collaborative site-specific artwork by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch. The two artists, with very different styles, were given one week to create an interactive space in one of the galleries using what they found on the Marders Landscape property.

The climb upward to the second story gallery slowly reveals sturdy fencing corralling the art. The view of the towering sculpture is a partial one. Peering around the wooden rails, it feels like the Silas Marder Gallery has tucked a historic museum into its cavernous space so they could display artifacts needing protection from curious hands fondling precious treasures.

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch at Silas Marder Gallery.

Since the “artifacts” are the art installation, the question becomes: What is being protected–the art or the public from possible sudden combustion?

Peering closer, details of the tower become clear. It also appears as if the pile of unrelated objects has a Jenga-like structure. In other words, the relationship between stacked items creates the tower that holds the parts in place. Nevertheless, collapse doesn’t seem likely. Draped over the top are black hoses that direct the eye downward to continue exploring the art.

One of the most prominent objects in the busy core are red signs with white lettering pronouncing “GALLERY.” The familiar announcement seems to provide assurance the sculpture will not explode and is worthy of its exalted place behind the fencing.

Through a frame of fencing, a passageway is created and provides direction into the art. Part of the joy of experiencing “Architecture of a Bomb” is remaining curious and walking through the alleyway into a full-room installation of surprising art with dollops of whimsy, wonderment and serious musing.

When exiting the pathway, there’s an unexpected wire object without explanation or excuse. Nearby, a chair sits midair atop a thick coil. It springs from a square of sod inset into a makeshift floor of marble squares. A single rock is there too, engaging in an uneasy conversation with the sculpture.

The room opens and access to the tower is unfettered. This allows for a closer examination of the visual riot of rusted and weather worn objects and time to ponder its meaning.

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

Tucked in another corner is a structure of paper screens and wooden posts. Two lighted openings beckon near the bottom of the installation. Crouching or sitting on the floor is necessary to see inside the hidden room.

"Architecture of a Bomb" by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch

Hovering silently above is the key unlocking the mystery of the installation’s title. Suspended from the gallery’s ceiling is a black toy jet. The artists discovered a parallel between the installation’s completion and unveiling with the first wartime uses of the atomic bomb, said gallery manager Alana Leland. The realization led to the naming of the artwork.

The first atomic bomb to be used in war was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States on August 6, 1945. An art opening for “Architecture of a Bomb” was held on Aug 6, 2011, coincidentally coinciding with the anniversary of Hiroshima’s bombing, said Leland.

A second atomic bomb used in war was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on Aug 9, 1945. The three-day period between bombings is the same amount of time the artists took to decide their artwork was completed, said Leland.

“Architecture of a Bomb” rose into creation after Butler and Rosch were invited by Silas Marder to make a site-specific artwork. The artists were given five days and $40 to create an installation using whatever items they could find and carry on the grounds of Marder’s Garden Center and Nursery. (The gallery is also located on the property).

Silas Marder selected the pair of artists–who had never met before–to see what would happen when artists with radically-different working styles created a single installation. Both artists live in the Hamptons (at least part time) and have exhibited with the Silas Marder Gallery. Marder had faith the artists would make something interesting that was worth exhibiting in a gallery, said Leland.

Butler’s work is precise with a strong architectural feel. Wood components are calculated to form lines or defined shapes in sculptures where the overall form is an important part of the art. The fencing in ”Architecture of a Bomb” was created by Butler. It was made from pallets and posts.

Rosch’s art is intuitive, lyrical and infused with a sense of humor (or irony). Metal is often curly-cued into a twisting spring, which is a familiar form for Rosch. Stacking objects on a skyward path to nowhere is another signature of Rosch’s work. The installation featuring the chair on curved metal was made by Rosch.

The primary installation in “Architecture of a Bomb” includes chicken wire, trellis frames, plastic tubes, foam strips, metal chair parts, outdoor table tops, metal posts, decorative details and more.

BASIC FACTS: ”Architecture of a Bomb” by Ben Butler and Michael Rosch remains on view through Dec 18 at Silas Marder Gallery, 120 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton, NY. www.silasmarder.com/

Ben Butler: www.benbutlerart.com

Michael Rosch is represented by Keyes Art Projects:
http://juliekeyesart.com/artists/michael-rosch/index.html

“Architecture of a Bomb” was commissioned for the group exhibition, “Architecture,” held at the Silas Marder Gallery from Aug 6 to Sept 18, 2011. Butler’s sculpture was included in the show. “Architecture of a Bomb” was extended into December by popular demand. The current exhibition, “America,” remains on view through Dec 18. It includes art by Dennis Lawrence, John Morse, Robert Olsen, Corinne von Lebusa and others.

Detail of "Architecture of a Bomb"

Detail of "Architecture of a Bomb"

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Art Party at Art Sites

DISPATCH – Dec 8, 2011 (Thursday, 3:30 p.m.)

RIVERHEAD, NY

There’s an art party happening! The fun will take place this Saturday (Dec 10) at Art Sites when the gallery rolls out art by over 70 artists from 11 years of exhibitions. Why reflect on 11 years of art? Why not? There’s even a pet rock competition judged by art critic Amei Wallach.

The gallery is wrapping Peconic Green Growth into the celebration. Art sale proceeds and a raffle will benefit the environmental non-profit. A meeting led by the organization begins at 3 p.m. The party and art opening starts at 4 p.m. and runs until 6 p.m. Peconic Green Growth, Inc. “seeks to explore and promote the integration of the environment, community, and art along the Peconic River Corridor of Eastern Long Island,” according to its Facebook page.

The centerpiece of the fanfare is the exhibition, “COLLECTED.” The show presents works by artists who have exhibited at the gallery since 2000. Exhibiting artists include Jim Bloom, Alan Bull, Rani Carson, Darlene Charneco, Andrea Cote, Lianne Edwards and Gabriele Evertz. Exhibiting artists include Rafael Ferrer, who’s the subject of a solo show at Guild Hall through Jan 16, 2012.

The show also includes art by Craig Kane, Avital Oz, Mel Pekarsky, Leslie Reed, Hope Sandrow, Bastienne Schmidt, Jeff Shapiro, and Arden Scott. Also, Phyllis Kudder Sullivan, Ted Victoria, Skip Wachsberger, Claire Watson and Mac Wells.

Exhibiting artists continue with Rosaire Appel, Hideaki Ariizumi, Jonas Balciunas, Martin Barooshian and Ava Bhavsar. Also, Bob Braine, Frank Bramblett, Olinka Broadfoot, Ross Brodar, Candyce Brokaw, Chris Schneberger, Takeshi Yasuda and Emmanuel Cooper. For a full exhibition list, visit www.artsitesgallery.com.

Here’s a glimpse at some of the art in the show:

Art by Andrea Cote. Courtesy Art Sites Gallery.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

Courtesy Art Sites.

BASIC FACTS: “COLLECTED” opens with an art party on Dec 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Art Sites, 651 West Main Street, Riverhead, NY. The exhibition remains on view through Mar 15, 2012. The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. through December. After Jan 2, 2012, contact the gallery before visiting as hours vary.

www.artsitesgallery.com

Peconic Green Growth Inc. is connected to Art Sites through the support of studio a/b architects, whose principals founded and run Art Sites (architects and married couple Glynis M. Berry and Hideaki Ariizumi). studio a/b architects is a “founding organizer and supporter” of Peconic Green Growth, Inc. according to www.studioabarchitects.com/planning.html. 

Info on Peconic Green Growth can be found on Facebook.

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Hamptons Art in Miami

DISPATCH – December 1, 2011 (9:35 a.m.)

Hamptons, NY and Miami, FL

The Miami art fairs are currently welcoming art lovers from around the world. The art is international and the parties plentiful, stirring excitement about the art fairs and events that keep the whirlwind whipping. Attendees shouldn’t be surprised to discover Hamptons-based artists and galleries doing their part to create exhilaration about art.

"Red and Black" by Alexander Calder, 1966. Watercolor on paper, 29 x 42 inches. Courtesy Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc.

Hamptons galleries can be found at multiple art fairs. Look for Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc. and Spanierman Modern at Art Miami. Boltax Gallery is at Aqua Art Miami. Keyes Art Projects presents at SCOPE Miami.

Artwork by artists calling the Hamptons or the North Fork home is plentiful and represented by a multitude of galleries. Contemporary artists that are part of the fairs include Frank Wimberley, Steve Miller, Kevin Teare, Ned Smyth, Paton Miller, Kevin Berlin, Janet Culbertson, Colin Goldberg and more.

Historic artists like Andy Warhol, Willem deKooning, Ibram Lassaw, Betty Parsons and Charlotte Park also have art appearing.

Separate from the art fairs, works by Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger and Richard Prince can be found in the exhibition, “American Exuberance,” at the Rubell Family Collection / Contemporary Arts Foundation in Miami.

Besides the art fairs, there are events where East Enders are the driving force. Artist Kevin Berlin helped preview SCOPE Miami yesterday with a beauty contest performance piece, ”MISS FOREIGN EXCHANGE INTERNATIONAL 2011″ held at Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery booth. The piece included a live beauty pageant and new artworks by Berlin. See www.missforeignexchange.com for details.

Opening SCOPE Miami today is performance artist CHOKRA (Conscious Hoarding Of Kinetic Rage Associated). CHOKRA appeared at The Watermill Center last year. At SCOPE, he’s presenting the new piece, “U+262A (Crescent and Star).”

“‘U+262A (Crescent and Star)’ … implements a unicode command to activate a somatic operative of performance,” according to SCOPE. “It encapsulates in a “Crescent and Star” meta-narrative the historical code, existential stance, socio-political condition, national construct and overlapping cultural histories of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.”

CHOKRA performs "Al-Mtsaalh Haal (The Trucial Case)" at The Watermill Center on Dec 18, 2010.

Also tonight, Not a Gallery is hosting a FUN FACTORY DANCE PARTY held from 9 pm to 2 am at Cafeina Wynwood, 297 Northwest 23rd St, Miami, FL. The event is designed to unveil Not A Gallery’s latest line of artworks, “Fun Factory.” The artworks are “simultaneously a tribute to Warhol and a reflection on the current state of the art market,” according to Not A Gallery. Reservations are required:  rsvp@notagallery.com.

Not a Gallery has held summer long exhibitions in pop-up spaces in Bridgehampton (2010) and Southampton (2011).

Other upcoming events with an East End connection including open studios and an exhibition-dance party as described below. In the meanwhile, here’s a sampling of some of the art linking a piece of the Hamptons to the Florida frenzy:

"Untitled" by Richard Prince, 1995. Ektacolor print, 20 x 16 inches. Courtesy Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc.

"Origin of Cotton" by Jean Michel Baquiat, 1981. Oil stick on paper, 18 by 22 inches. Courtesy Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc.

"Star Burst 1" by Sylvia Hommert. Aqua leaf, beeswax, glitter, hologram paper and resin on birch panel, 30 x 30 inches. Courtesy Boltax Gallery.

"The Man Who Knew Too Much-Staircase" by John Abrams, 2011. Oil on wood panel, 24 x 36 inches. Courtesy Boltax Gallery.

"Last Meal of Charles Bass" by Jackie Black. Part of a series of photographs of last meals requested by Texas death row inmates. Courtesy Boltax Gallery.

"Drums" by Nova, 2002. Painted steel, 7 x 7 x 4 feet each. Courtesy Keyes Art Projects.

Digital c-print by Camille Perrottet. Courtesy Keyes Art Projects.

Photograph by Jill Peters from her series "Virgins of Albania." Courtesy Keyes Art Projects.

Art by Lalin. Recycled paper and matte medium, 12 x18 inches. Courtesy Keyes Art Projects.

"Fiesta" by Paton Miller, 2011. Oil on paper, 22 x 30 inches. Courtesy Keyes Art Projects.

"Everyone Is In Love With Paolo" by Kevin Berlin, 2011. Oil on canvas, 41 x 47 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Art by Janet Culbertson. Courtesy of the artist. Her work appears with Accola Griefen Gallery at Aqua Art Fair.

"Green Dream" by Colin Goldberg, 2005. Pigment print and acrylic on paper. Courtesy of the artist. His work appears with Yes! Gallery at Fountain Art Fair.

On Dec 3, Brooklyn-based artist Ben Blatt’s art is in the thick of a launch event for Galerist.com. The dance party and art show, “Flights of Fancy” will be held at B Bar, in The Betsy Hotel in South Beach, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, from 10 pm-2 am. “Flights of Fancy” features art by Blatt, Shay Kun, Annika Connor and Nicholas Papdakis.

Galerist.com is ”an interactive digital art platform” founded by Hamptons artists and art enthusiasts Dogan Perese and Annika Connor, according to the event press release. The art event is sponsored by Ideas Productions and Gallerist.com.  For details, visit www.artslant.com/mia/events/show/191118-flights-of-fancy.

Blatt’s artwork, ”Tropic Tortuguero,” is featured on the event invitation. Blatt’s artwork was exhibited at Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton this summer. A solo show is planned at the gallery next year.

"Tropic Tortuguero" by Ben Blatt, detail. Courtesy of the artist.

"Tropic Tortuguero" by Ben Blatt. Courtesy of the artist.

If you’re looking for a peek into Miami’s year-round art scene, why not consider the Bakehouse Art Complex in the Wynwood Arts District in Miami? The exhibition, “Woman to Woman” features “ten of the most widely recognized women artists in Miami,” according the exhibition press release.

The show pairs five established women artists with five female “rising talent.” Each team created an original artwork for the show. Established artists are Mia Leonin, Carol Prusa, Michelle Weinberg, Sara Stites and Francie Bishop Good. Rising talents are Elizabeth Cerejido, Julie Davidow, Felice Grodin, Vickie Pierre and Samantha Salzinger.

Organizers of the exhibition include art critics Adriana Herrera, Elisa Turner and Margery Gordon. Gordon is the sister of Hamptons-based artist Andrea Cote.

On Dec 2 and 9 at noon, a Breakfast & Artist Studios Open House will be held. On Dec 13, an exhibition tour will be led by Gordon. The tour takes place during the monthly ArtTable gathering. On Jan 20, 2012, a panel discussion featuring exhibiting artists will be moderated by Turner. See www.bacfl.org for details.

Felice Grodin and Michelle Weinberg. Mock up / Gallery Study for Collaborative Installation Walk Through. Courtesy Bakehouse Art Complex.

BASIC INFO: The Miami art fairs are held from Nov 30 to Dec 4. The centerpiece is Art Basel Miami Beach held from Dec 1 to 4. Art fairs include Art Miami, Pulse, Art Asia, Red Dot, NADA and SCOPE Miami and Aqua Art Fair. Also in town is Design Miami.

ARTICLES to help plan your art travels:

http://artinfo.com/news/story/752812/day-at-the-beach-10-cant-miss-art-basel-miami-beach-events-for-december-1

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2011-12-01/culture/guide-to-2011-art-basel-miami-beach-fairs/2/

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/27/2525249/satellite-fairs-raise-the-curtain.html

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

“The Ship of Tolerance” Rises in Miami

DISPATCH – November 29, 2011 (7:08 p.m.)

North Fork, NY and Miami, FL

Waving a flag to draw attention is a time-tested tradition. Hoisting a sail to encourage tolerance and embrace differences may be on the way to becoming one. The fifth incarnation of “The Ship of Tolerance” takes to the waterways of Miami this week in conjunction with the Miami art fairs. Captaining the project are artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.

The Russian-born artists now make their home on the North Fork of Long Island. With some help from Dave Kapell of Greenport and a lot of cooperation from Miami Children’s Museum and area organizations, “The Ship of Tolerance” is making its debut in America.

"Ship of Tolerance" in Venice. Shown is artist Ilya Kabakov. Courtesy Kapell Gallery.

On Nov 30, a sail featuring artwork made by Miami children will be hoisted on a boat made by student carpenters from England and constructed in Miami, Florida.

The ship is a replicate of the original “The Ship of Tolerance” built in 2005 in Egypt, according to Wolfgang Roth and Partners Fine Art, a project sponsor. The ship is 60 meters by 20 meters, according to www.wrpfineart.com.

The ship remains on view through Dec 4 to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach. The art fair is being held from Dec 1 to 4.

“The Ship of Tolerance” was conceived by the Kabakovs as a way to shake loose the notion that differences are something to fear.

“It is a conceptual piece that is meant to reflect how divergent cultures interpret tolerance and how these interpretations overlap,” according to www.shipoftolerance.org.

So far, tolerance-building projects have been held in Siwa, Egypt; Venice, Italy; St. Moritz, Switzerland; and Sharjah, UAE, according the project website. “The Ship of Tolerance” in Miami, Florida is the first time the project is being conducted in America. Another ship project is planned for the Bronx this spring (2012).

"Ship of Tolerance" in Sharja, UAE. Courtesy Kapell Gallery.

"Ship of Tolerance" in Siwa, Egypt. Courtesy Kapell Gallery.

“The Ship of Tolerance” is often staged in communities where differences are causing strive, explained Kapell. The process engages children in the area and includes discussing diversity, brainstorming for solutions to ease tensions and making art.

Other times, the location selected for the project was to give children a taste of something new. This can mean exposure to art techniques not typical for the area or exploring the concept of diversity in a homogenous society, according to www.shipoftolerance.org.

For artist couple Ilyva and Emilia Kabakov, big and conceptual matches their fine art style. Ilya Kabakov belonged to a group of Russian conceptual artists in the 1980s working ”outside of the official Soviet art system,” according to his website. Ilyva and Emilia began making art together in 1988. The pair have collaborated ever since and married in 1992. Both were born in Russia and separately relocated, eventually settling in the United States.

Kapell, a former Greenport Village mayor, met the Kabakovs through mutual friends. After hearing about the project, he got involved by working with political decision-makers in the cities of Miami and Miami Beach to help the ship rise from idea into actuality, he said.

In Miami, the ship building began in July. Around 300 students participated in the project, said Kapell. The sail will feature around 150 artworks made on cloth. The rest of the art will be exhibited around the city. After Art Basel Miami Beach closes, “The Ship of Tolerance” will be exhibited at the Miami Children’s Museum through January 2012.

Here’s a look at the process:

"The Ship of Tolerance" under construction in Miami. All images courtesy Kapell Gallery.

"The Ship of Tolerance" under construction in Miami.

"The Ship of Tolerance" under construction in Miami.

Ultimately, ”The Ship of Tolerance” may be planting seeds throughout the world to give peace a chance to grow and ultimately bloom through art.

BASIC FACTS: ”The Ship of Tolerance” by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov will be on view from Nov 30 to Dec 4 next to Miami Children’s Museum on Watson Island at 980 MacArthur Causeway, Miami, FL. ”The Ship of Tolerance” is an art-based student project conceived and led by artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. The Miami ship is presented and supported by Miami Children’s Museum and area organizations. See: www.shipoftolerance.org

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have exhibited their fine art internationally. Their work has been shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, the 1997 Whitney Biennial and others. The pair represented Russia in the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. A retrospective of their work is traveling this year and next with stops expected in Scotland, Norway and Germany. www.ilya-emilia-kabakov.com/

For information on the Kapell Gallery in Greenport or about Miami’s “The Ship of Tolerance,” email Dave Kapell at KapellGallery@gmail.com

© Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This includes all photographs and images. Text excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.