During the century that followed Jacques Louis David’s death, three forces struggled for position in French art; classicism, romanticism, and realism. But their initial struggle took place in the art of David. His heroic style, suppressing passion beneath a hard chilly surface, made him the artistic dictator of Europe. Louis XVI, Robespierre, and Bonaparte were united in admiration of David. He emerges from most biographies as one of the least sympathetic personalities in the history of art, an impression not mitigated, for most people, by his painting, which they find as hard and chilling as the man.Such judgment is somewhat superficial, as there is endless fascination under a layer of iciness.
David. Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass
David may have been the first painter to be considered a legitimate war criminal.He was active in numerous agencies during the reign of terror and was president of the Jacobin club. He developed and refined visual art in the service of state terror and propaganda. However, it was David’s considerable gifts of image and emotionality that gave him credibility with the new revolutionary government, and allowed him to expand his gifts to one of the highest forms of artistic propaganda in the era. It was with David that success in combining art and politics became exceptional, enhanced by his own fanatical devotion and radical implication to the Revolution. While other artists of the time were painting more traditional subjects, landscapes, and the like, David made sure that he did not ignore the substantial politicality of the era.
However, the fact remains that he voted for the execution of Louis XVI and historians have identified more than three hundred victims for whom David signed execution orders.The writings of Marquis de Condorcet, and his drafting of a constitution had eloquently expressed the concept of liberty, but he did not foresee a surfeit of freedom leading to new forms of tyranny and oligarchical rule that lay ahead. Condorcet’s ”Esquisse” embodied the age of enlightenment and rationalism and visioned a just society based on scientific knowledge. David sided with the more reactionary and extreme Montagnards. Yet, by the end of his life in exile in Belgium, David,the former ardent believer completed paintings of a haunting beauty and powerful expression of psychology and emotion; a melting of the glacial sheen. His narrative, both artistic and personal, has many facets.
The age itself, however, must be looked upon as a product of the Enlightenment, in which more and more of both the intellectual and common classes were debating the manner by which people should exist within the world system itself. The Frenchman Rousseau proclaimed that “everything depended fundamentally on politics,” yet failed to consider that before political paradigms could exists, the phenomenology within the social and artistic life of the country must take primacy.
David. Oath of Horatii. 1784. 3m high by 4m wide. One of the last official commissions of the ancien regime and a revolutionary departure in style.
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Though tradition has made him the archetype of the classicist who reduced antiquity to a kind of sterile purity, David is really only a pseudo-classicist whose variation of the formula was dominated by a combination of staggering realism and true romanticism. In his most frigid paintings and obsessive sensuality lies just beneath the surface. His nudes are at once adaptations of the idealized bodies of antique sculpture, carefully analyzed anatomical studies, and declarations of the allure of human nakedness that on occasion can amount to a revelation of concupiscence.
David may have been a lustful man beneath his aesthetic puritanism, but he never thought of his idealized forms as a transmutation of sensual experience, as the original forms were with the Greeks. Only in an occasional portrait of a member of his family or a very close friend does he allow himself even a confession of tenderness. But, his portraits are brilliant renderings of surface that become by second nature revelations of the personality of the sitter.
David’s immaculate surface, the often enamel like finish of his paintings, conceals preliminary stages that were as fresh and sensitive as the best rococo painting that he abominated. David’s last painting, of Mars and Venus, a love scene painted by an old man, is closer in spirit to his first master, Boucher, than to the rationalism into which he forced himself. One portrait of Napoleon on horseback, ”Napoleon Crossing the St. Bernard Pass” is so full of wind and storm, with flying draperies and a rearing, wild eyed steed, that it has become accepted among scholars as a proto-romantic conception.
David. The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons. The painting was exhibited in 1789,after the fall of the Bastille, and the message that it imparted was not lost on its viewers.
David began his career as a protege of the state under Louis XVI, continued it as a powerful figure in the Revolutionary government, went on from there to become the grand old man of French painting as a favorite of Napoleon’s, and in the process redirected the course of French art at just the time when Paris was emerging as the art center of Europe. Something of a political chameleon, he holds a record for adaptive longevity under hazardous circumstances.
In 1774, David won the Prix de Rome, after failing for a number of years and being highly embittered by the process. In 1772, at the low point of his life, David attempted suicide by means appropriate to a painter who was to establish a new stoic style. He locked himself in his room and resolved to starve to death. When he did not appear for several days, his fellow students broke in and rescued him.In Rome, He began immediately by puzzling and disappointing his sponsors back in Paris by sending works that rejected the airiness and freshness of the rococo style, a first declaration of independence from the society that had rejected David for so long.
It was classical Rome that most fascinated him. His rejection of rococo artifice inspired him to a vision of heroic grandeur. This was not the opulent Rome of the Empire but Republican Rome with its severe moral code and its masculinity in utter contrast to the frills and laces of the regime in France. Even the classical revival that was underway at home, with the style now called Louis XVI, could be more appropriately called Marie Antoinette, since it was a style of extreme delicacy in which classical motifs were adapted to the ideals of the boudoir and the drawing room.
David, Oath of the Tennis Court.1789. David's painting was never completed. A wildly romanticized drawing with Robespierre, not known to be demonstrative,striking a dramatic attitude with two hands on his breast as if he had two hearts beating for liberty.
When David returned to Paris, he had not yet achieved the style of heroic severity that was to set him in opposition to the Academy’s standards. His classicism was closely relatable to that of Poussin, an Academy god, and David also proved himself a supreme draftsman in the Academy’s tradition of the studio nude. There was as yet no indication that the Academy was nurturing a murderous rebel. In his personal life, David was also following the normal course proper for an ambitious young man, by marrying, in 1782, Marguerite Charlotte Pecoul, the daughter of a wealthy contractor. By 1784 David was well set. He had a rich wife and a brilliant success in the Salon with a picture called ”Andromarche by the Body of Hector”, which brough him election to the Academy.
Comte d’Angiviller commissioned David for a painting that would raise the artist from the position of successful artist to that of sensational innovator. D’Angiviller wanted a painting of the Oath of the Horatii, based on a sketch David had done while watching a performance of Corneille’s Horace. As David developed the idea however, he worked out a composition that was not taken from any of the play’s tableaux. Helped by his father-in-law providing money, David returned to Rome to work on the painting, not as an aging student, but as an established painter. He returned as the leader of a revolution in painting and was also declared a prophet of a revolution in government.
”The Oath of the Horatii” fulfilled David’s classical ideal. The elements of the picture had been stripped down to the minimum; the brush was kept under rigid control and there was not a flourish, not a squiggle of paint to mar the icy impersonality of its execution. The drawing was hard as stone. All fluidity, all spontaneity, all feminine elegance, had given way to a determined philosophical masculinity. The grieving women, who see their sons or husbands perhaps going to their deaths, are given a secondary place, subjugated to the tableau of father and sons dedicated to the honor of country.
It was the style of the painting that created the sensation. In comparison with the sweet graces of the current fashion it was as revolutionary as cubism would be in the twentieth century. The Oath of the Horatii was exhibited in the Salon of 1785, and was interpreted not as a mere retelling of Corneille’s theme but as an allegorical comment on the turmoil that was building up to revolution. It was time, the picture seemed to say, that France save herself from the degeneracy of the old regime by returning to the ideals of firm republicanism, no matter what sacrifices might be entailed. The picture had been given an unfavorable position in the Salon, no doubt because it challenged the accepted style of the Academy, but the furor was so great that it was rehung as the center of the show.
The Revolution finally broke in 1789, as David was working on another exhibition picture illustrating a classical subject. Again, David was credited with Revolutionary sentiments in disguise, this time making Brutus the symbol of all Frenchmen who will make any personal sacrifice to protect French liberty. The particular targets were supposed to be the emigres who had fled France in the crisis, with as much of their property as possible.
Self Portrait.1794.Under house arrest after the Fall of Robespierre:''On the moral plane, we can read the painter's character in his own rendition: willful, reserved, passionate, and agitated. We need only to look at him to understand why he threw himself into the Revolution with such fervor; above all, we understand--and this may be the most interesting psychological aspect of the work--how David was simultaneously a portraitist and a history painter. His scrutinizing gaze flashes with both acumen and eagerness. He had the gift of seeing more intensely than other people; he has an inquisitive air about him. He tried to make his rendering more forceful--his fingers tightly clasped around the brush and palette are an involuntary admission. Finally, an almost fierce passion can be seen in his gaze, the passion to penetrate reality, to discover its meaning and purpose. The portraitist wanted to grasp the core of human nature, the history painter wanted to give it an ideal form.''
Early in the Revolution David supported Robespierre and the Jacobins and for the next five years he was not only ”the” artist of the Revolution, but a political figure as well. In 1792, he was elected a deputy in the convention and a member of the art commission, which made him the virtual art dictator of France. Drastic reforms were made.David abolished the Academy, along with all the secondary organizations that had trained craftsmen throughout the provinces. Whatever else the Academy had done, it had always preserved the technical traditions inherited from the old masters, and this mass abolition was a blow that affected French art from that time on. Similar to the Russian reforms after their revolution, the function of art would be to glorify the new ideals of the state and to record its triumphs, and the state would purchase these patriotic pictures from open competitions.
This new Commune of the Arts reigned for not quite two months. It took only that long for it to fall under the same accusations of favoritism and dictatorship that had been leveled against the Academy. It was replaced by a smaller replica of itself which in 1795 gave way to the Letters and Fine Arts division of the Institute of France which became simply the old Royal Academy with a new name. He was a busy man. In addition to his administrative functions he was in charge of commemorative monuments as well as popular celebrations and state funerals, which could be elaborate affairs involving, according to some of David’s plans, virtually the entire population of Paris. And meanwhile he was still the state painter. There were plenty of martyrs and something had to be done about them. David’s possible masterpiece, ”Marat Assasinated” commemorated the colleague’s murder in 1793 by Charlotte Corday.
David, Marat Assassinated
”Marat is dying: his eyelids droop, his head weighs heavily on his shoulder, his right arm slides to the ground. His body, as painted by David, is that of a healthy man, still young. The scene inevitably calls to mind a rendering of the “Descent from the Cross.” The face is marked by suffering, but is also gentle and suffused by a growing peacefulness as the pangs of death loosen their grip. David has surrounded Marat with a number of details borrowed from his subject’s world, including the knife and Charlotte Corday’s petition, attempting to suggest through these objects both the victim’s simplicity and grandeur, and the perfidy of the assassin. The petition (”My great unhappiness gives me a right to your kindness”), the assignat Marat was preparing for some poor unfortunate (”you will give this assignat to that mother of five children whose husband died in the defense of his country”), the makeshift writing-table and the mended sheet are the means by which David discreetly bears witness to his admiration and indignation.The face, the body, and the objects are suffused with a clear light, which is softer as it falls on the victim’s features and harsher as it illuminates the assassin’s petition. David leaves the rest of his model in shadow. In this sober and subtle interplay of elements can be seen, in perfect harmony with the drawing, the blend of compassion and outrage David felt at the sight of the victim.
After Robespierre’s fall, the painting was returned to David and was rescued from obscurity only after his death. Misunderstood by the Romantics, who saw in it only a cold classicism, it was restored to a place of honor by Baudelaire, who wrote in 1846: “The drama is here, vivid in its pitiful horror. This painting is David’s masterpiece and one of the great curiosities of modern art because, by a strange feat, it has nothing trivial or vile. What is most surprising in this very unusual visual poem is that it was painted very quickly. When one thinks of the beauty of the lines, this quickness is bewildering. This is food for the strong, the triumph of spiritualism. This painting is as cruel as nature but it has the fragrance of ideals. Where is the ugliness that hallowed Death erased so quickly with the tip of his wing? Now Marat can challenge Apollo. He has been kissed by the loving lips of Death and he rests in the peace of his metamorphosis. This work contains something both poignant and tender; a soul is flying in the cold air of this room, on these cold walls, aropund this cold funerary tub.”
Charles Z. Lawrence points to his studio copy of “The Raising of Lazarus,” one of five windows he made for the National Cathedral in Washington. The original contains an unusual ingredient (see story). (Photo by Richard S. Lee)
After a Depression-affected childhood in Newton, New Jersey (“about as far up into New Jersey as you can get”), Mt. Airy’s Charles Z. Lawrence, one of the country’s most gifted stained glass makers, worked at several non-career jobs after high school. These even included a brief stint at the Brooklyn girdle factory that employed his mother. In an essay he wrote for The Stained Glass Quarterly magazine, Charles, now 74, described his introduction to the world of stained glass this way:
“I started to become interested in painting … In my senior year of high school, the school had an art show in a park … I sold all my watercolors. I made $15. I was hooked; I was going to become an artist if it killed me.
“[The German master craftsman and World War II refugee] Rudolf H. Buenz saw some of my paintings and offered me an apprenticeship. So in 1960 when I left the North Jersey woods, I left as a journeyman-craftsman to spend the next four years in New York City and to work at the [stained glass] craft while continuing my studies as a fine arts student.” (He studied at the Pratt School of Design in Brooklyn.)
The apprenticeship stretched to seven years, while Lawrence learned every part of the ancient art of stained glass. He said, “I’m just about the last of the traditional stained glass apprentices — and one day, I’ll write a book about it.” Even now, 50 years later, he still calls Rudolf Buenz “Maestro.”
Lawrence attributes his “chameleon” stained glass style — any treatment, from Medieval to abstract — to his extensive training with different glass designers and his work in several studios. He, his wife, Jonelle Shilito, and baby daughter lived in Greenwich Village during the mid-’60s.
As such things have a way of happening, Lawrence’s New York-based work dried up in 1966. The promise of a job with Willet Studios, then in Chestnut Hill, brought the Lawrences to Philadelphia. After renting a house for a year, Charles bought the vintage property on Allens Lane where he still lives. It is both a charming residence and a complete stained glass studio with adjoining workroom. Much of the house’s glass has been replaced with Lawrence designs — a constant pleasure to its creator and to anyone visiting this attractive home.
Created by West Mt. Airy resident Charles Z. Lawrence is this stunning Reformation window in the west clerestory of the south transept, National Cathedral, Mount St. Alban in Washington, D.C.
Lawrence worked as Willet’s designer from 1967 until 1982, when he opened the C.Z. Lawrence Stained Glass Studios, although “I still design for Willet.” (The company has moved from Chestnut Hill to the Juniata section of the city.) Since going entirely freelance in 1982, Lawrence has done it all: concept, design, glass specifying and cutting, painting, puttying, assembly and installation. He hires helpers as needed, and a daughter, Tracy Bailey, is a frequent co-worker.
A stained glass craftsman is, of course, defined by his body of work, and Lawrence’s work is as varied as it is prestigious. His stained glass windows impart beauty to religious and secular buildings alike. One assignment — of towering height — was the 43-foot-tall commission for the Washington (DC) Temple of Latter Day Saints. (“You know, the one that looks like the Emerald City in a different color as you drive toward it on the Washington Beltway.”) He even has a copy of the Book of Mormon inscribed with thanks for the beauty of the windows.
“My best paintings are the five windows I designed for the National Cathedral in Washington,” he replied when asked to name a favorite commission. As for an unusual assignment, he named “The 10,000 times magnification of the molecule that makes Gore-Tex [fabric] work,” the window he designed for the fabric manufacturer’s Cherry Hill, MD headquarters.
Charles Z. Lawrence is as masterful a storyteller as he is a craftsman. To appreciate two such tales, you should understand that stained glass is assembled with lead channels separating the individual pieces of glass. This sealant should stay pliable; if it performs as it should, the stained glass window will flex noticeably under windy conditions but will resist blowing out of its frame; the sealant cushions the glass throughout the window’s lifetime.
In the winter of 1956 and 1957, Charles was part of the team installing 15 large windows in St. Henry’s Roman Catholic Church near Nashville. “Don’t ever think the South doesn’t get cold!” he said of this adventure. “One day [as we were installing], the wind blew so hard the boss on the job tied down his little Porsche to keep it from blowing over. One window was flexing as we put it in place — rippling, almost — but it didn’t break. That was more than 50 years ago. Those windows are still there.”
Charles Lawrence lives with his wonderful dog, Buddah, a refugee from the mean streets. “I cleaned the living room to prepare for this interview,” he said. “I even cleaned my dog’s teeth for you.” And this led him to another story.
In years past, Lawrence also had a dog, Angus, a beloved black Labrador. Dog and master were inseparable, going for walks in Fairmount Park at workday’s end, and even out for occasional beers. When Angus died, a saddened Lawrence had him cremated but did not bury the ashes. At the time, he was also facing what every creative person must from time to time: a supposedly completed job needing revision. (We know!)
In this case, it was for the Raising of Lazarus window at the National Cathedral. Out it came, and back to Charles’ Mt. Airy workshop for the re-do. Away went the rejected glass segments; in went the new. But not without re-puttying. In his 1991 Stained Glass Quarterly essay, Lawrence wrote: “There was one last thing to do, puttying. I don’t bother much with either making or applying the putty, but this time was special … I wanted one more thing for the putty. I found it! The last thing that went into that window was a handful of Angus’ ashes [in the putty], and then the window went back to the National Cathedral. The window was accepted … with acclaim.
“The Cathedral is done, and Angus is in a safe place for the coming millennium, and after that we will be together again.”
To reach CZ Lawrence Stained Glass, call 215-247-3985 or e-mail czlg@earthlink.net. To view his work online, Google his name.
Mr. Brainwash's designed a record cover for Madonna's greatest hits album last year.
French artist and filmmaker Thierry Guetta has developed a devoted street art following under the name Mr. Brainwash. But is he serious?
“I’m like a machine, I create and create and create,” Guetta explains, standing in the center of the Meatpacking District event space he rented for a new exhibition of his art made under his unsettlingly blunt moniker. The show was set to open in a few days. Paint was splattered across his pants; canvases, many wrapped in plastic, sat around him, waiting to be hung on the walls; and at least a dozen assistants, many smoking cigarettes, scurried about, finishing pieces.
“It has been two years since my last show because when I do a show, I really do a show,” said Guetta, who looks like a scruffier, skinnier John Belushi, as he walked us through the cavernous space. He’s also been busy, designing an album cover for Madonna’s Celebration release last year (which features the singer in a paint-splattered portrait that is an unapologetic copy of Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe work), following street artist Bansky for the unusual street-art documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, and periodically stenciling his own pieces around Los Angeles. His origins are largely unknown. Some have speculated that in fact he is the street artist Banksy, who masks his identity even throughout the documentary, while others say he comes from a wealthy French family. (He and his representatives, on the other hand, maintain that he “mortgaged his home” and sold his belongings to pay for the current exhibition.)
Mr. Brainwash, Yves Saint Laurent, 2010
“The definition of art is: no limits,’” Guetta said proudly as he showed the dozens of square, silkscreen portraits he has had printed with the faces of celebrities. There was a series of fashion designers printed in silver and another series of technology entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg printed in gold. “That’s the guy who founded Twitter!” said Guetta, excitedly singling out one of the works. As we walked around, a man followed us with a video camera, recording the entire interview.
The exhibition spills across the two floors of the warehouse-like gallery. One whole wall is devoted to prints of Kate Moss, which have been splashed lightly with neon paint. They are near-identical copies of Andy Warhol’s silkscreens, but Guetta acts offended at that suggestion. “Andy Warhol didn’t do a portrait of Kate Moss!” he said. “If I wait until Andy Warhol does it, I’m never going to see it. Just because Andy Warhol painted portraits, does that mean I can’t do it?”
There are also huge mock spray cans, some as big as ten feet tall, scattered about, bearing labels for Hershey’s chocolate, Pepto-Bismol, and Campbell’s Soup. “These things bring you memories,” he said of the brands. “They touch your heart.” Elsewhere, a taxi cab was parked inside gigantic plastic toy packaging, like a Matchbox car. Other work in the show was even more remorselessly banal. There was a portrait of Benjamin Franklin wearing large headphones and a vest emblazoned with Louis Vuitton buttons — “I just try to be kind of funny, with no limits,” Guetta said — and a portrait of the band Kiss made out of broken shards of vinyl records. Guetta does not hide the fact that most of his work is fabricated by his assistants, with his role limited to occasionally doing quality-control touchups, for instance adding an extra bit of vinyl for a Kiss member’s eye. However, he declines to go into detail about his operation. “I don’t want to explain it,” Guetta says. “It’s like cooking. If you go to a famous chef, he might let you taste his famous sauce, but he will not tell you how he made it.”
The artist motioned to a large, wooden paint can, perhaps ten feet in diameter. “When I build installations, why do I do it?” he asked. “It’s not going to make me money.” Is it for sale? “It’s not for sale, but if someone wants to buy it, why not?” Asked to pick his favorite piece in the show, Guetta demurred. “Each one is my favorite when I’m working on it,” he said, before finally settling on a larger portrait of Charlie Chaplin, emblazoned with a pink heart. “I want positivity in everything I do,” he said. He noted that his proudest work was an earlier painting that featured Einstein holding a sign that read “Love is the answer.” Says Guetta: “I think that was a big statement for me.”
Much of Guetta’s work is so unredeemably shallow that it has led some to suggest that the Mr. Brainwash persona is part of an elaborate performance art project, a cynical conceptual experiment to see if, with the right friends (Shepard Fairey has provided a guarded endorsement: “Not all the work was magnificent, but it improved steadily…”) and the right marketing (the Brainwash show is being promoted by Nadine Johnson Inc., one of New York’s most formidable public relations companies) it is possible to sell anything.
At the packed opening a few days later, with a crowd that was more fashion than art-heavy (and which featured a bevy of strikingly tall, afro-bewigged models dispensing vodka drinks), that question seemed to have been answered. Red dots popping up next to works in the show suggested people were buying. According to Clemence, Guetta’s young, omnipresent assistant — “She’s like my mother,” he said during the interview, “she wakes me up and tells me to do more interviews” — the portraits were priced from ten to forty thousand dollars, and rumors abounded that some of the largest installations had sold for as much as $120,000.
Mr. Brainwash represents, in a sense, an art critic’s worst nightmare: a complete leveling of culture, with every exhibition celebrated with a round of cheap applause and a fresh infusion of cash — the more derivative the work, the better. His art embodies the old fear that Duchamp’s readymade will be read not an aesthetic challenge — to make meaningful art when all things are suddenly allowed — but a license for complete triviality: it’s art because someone says it is, and it’s all equally wonderful.
These are not concerns for Mr. Brainwash, though. “Art is not something difficult to do,” he explained nonchalantly, when asked why he did his work. “You just need to pick up a brush and do it.”
During the recent Bay Bridge closure, there was much talk about how San Francisco Bay Area residents needed to become less car-dependent. Overlooked was the fact that the region’s many transportation systems collectively provide neither the 24-hour coverage nor geographic breadth to enable people to give up cars. In other words, the Bay Area’s public transit system is not in the same league as New York City’s legendary subway system, whose cultural and artistic significance is the subject of Tracy Fitzpatrick’s recent book, Art and the Subway: New York Underground. Fitzpatrick traces the subway from its opening in 1904 to the present, revealing how artists, writers, photographers and other cultural workers took advantage of the subway’s public and democratic milieu to forge their visions of society. She uncovers many surprising facts, such as the long history of subway graffiti, the use of guards to cram people into packed trains, and the ways in which artists captured the racial contradictions among a subway ridership that confounded traditional assumptions about the Melting Pot.
Although the New York City subway has entranced the public for over 100 years, Tracy Fitzpatrick’s book provides many new insights into its cultural and artistic significance. These insights begin with the fact that the system was originally designed under the elaborate City Beautiful architectural style, but soon took on a much different appearance when the far more simpler Arts and Craft style became dominant. I was also very surprised to learn that much of the subway was constructed underground while street traffic continued; the book contains photos showing how this was done.
The 1920’s and 30’s: The Golden Age of Subway Art
While Fitzpatrick traces subway art through Keith Haring and the graffiti writers of the 1980’s, I found the subway’s cultural contributions in the 1920’s and 1930’s the most compelling. Reginald Marsh, best known for his paintings of working-class visitors to Coney Island, also created cartoons and paintings for a newspaper series, “Subway Sunbeams.” Fitzpatrick reproduces many of Marsh’s cartoons, which address such issues as the extreme crowding which typified subways in the 1920’s – hence the guards to jam people in – and the often suppressed racial dynamic. In an era when immigrants were said to be “melting” their foreign backgrounds and becoming new Americans, Marsh showed that African-Americans stood out from other riders, not being allowed to “assimilate” into the crowd with fellow riders.
Fitzpatrick also shows the “Topsy Transit” pamphlets handed out by the Women’s City Club of New York (WCCNY) in 1937 as part of the ultimately successful campaign to unify all of the city’s three transit systems. Topsy Transit was a stereotyped black girl based on an Uncle Tom’s Cabin character described as a “pikaninny;” her wild and unkempt hair was put forth as symbolic of an out of control transit system needing unity. The fact that such strongly racist stereotypes would be openly used in New York City at that time is less surprising than their distribution by an organization that was far ahead of its time in advocating for child labor laws, juvenile justice and women’s rights.
These decades also saw painters like Max Weber, Joseph Stella and the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero transform the subway into a subject of serious art. This would continue through the Federal Art Project of the New Deal, though a dramatic program for a full-scale subway arts program that emerged in 1936 ultimately failed. Part of the reason was opposition to public art from the precursors of today’s right-wing; one New York City Councilman argued that “the only other city with murals in its subway was Moscow,” while another feared that murals “might be used to plant un-American ideals.”
The “Happenings” of the 1960’s and 70’s
While many only know Yoko Ono as Beatle John Lennon’s wife, she was a key figure in the Fluxus art movement that emerged in the 1960’s and continued in one form or another for decades. Artists associated with Fluxus were the first to engage in performance art in the subway, with Ono holding a thirteen-day event in the Canal Street Station in 1966.
Through such acts as walking through a subway train in flippers, mask and full scuba diving attire, or wearing clothes soaked for a week in vinegar, performance artist pursued their investigations into human behavior. And the fact that the subway was the arena reflects its status as the most public and democratic of spaces in this increasingly privatized age.
The Graffiti of the 1980’
While photos of graffiti-dominated subway cars are common, few may be aware that as far back as the 1930’s there was talk about the “subway Rembrandts” who “paint mustaches on the girls on advertising posters.” Such doctoring of ads was so pervasive that by 1961 the authorities placed posters of blank human heads with instructions to the public, “Please, if you mark something – use these.”
Fitzpatrick does not question that much of the graffiti that often filled every space on the outside of a subway car is art, but she does show how by defacing subway maps, some of these writers undermined public safety and the system’s operation. The ability of writers to deface subways coincided with other increasing system problems in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and it was really not until 1990 that graffiti was eliminated and the subway system became safer and more reliable.
As might be expected from a book with “art” in its title, Fitzpatrick offers readers an extraordinary collection of illustrations to support her text. Many, like the Marsh cartoons, are rarely seen. The book’s visuals more than compensate for its unusual structure, with there being often little connection between chapters. Fitzpatrick chose to proceed thematically rather than chronologically, which left me wondering, for example, why Yiddish plays of the 1920’s set in the subway, or King Vidor’s 1928 film The Crowd were discussed in the book’s next to last chapter. The book’s origins as a dissertation likely explains its discussion of some obscure artists whose minimal contributions to subway culture could have been bypassed.
This is a book for people who love the subway and want to learn more about its cultural legacy. Fitzpatrick has retrieved long missing components of the subway’s historic role, offering even longtime riders a new perspective on their means of getting around.
His cover drive was pure art to his millions of fans, while his captaincy of the England cricket team featured the brush strokes of brilliance.
Now Michael Vaughan, the first man to skipper an Ashes-winning England side for 18 years, is marrying cricket and creativity as he brings his unusual art to a Norwich gallery.
Vaughan, who retired from the game earlier this year, will be displaying his work at Castle Galleries Norwich, North Terrace, Chapelfield, from November 28 to December 20.
The paintings, billed as “Damien Hirst meets Jackson Pollock”, were created by Vaughan, his bat and a paint-covered cricket ball.
Using the technique, described as “artballing”, Vaughan paints each cricket ball a symbolic colour and then bats it against a blank canvas to create his abstract art, with a story woven into each canvas.
Using his favoured cover drives, square cuts and pull shots, the four limited-edition prints include Six!, Power Play, Day/Night and Yes, No, Maybe?
Vaughan, England’s most successful cricket captain, who led the Ashes-winning squad of 2005, said: “It is a very rare thing to be able to follow a career path that you love and the opportunity to combine my two greatest passions – art and cricket – has been a sublime moment in an extraordinary life of highs and low, dreams and sometimes nightmares.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan creates his paintings.
“Artballing captures the drama, speed and excitement of cricket in one precious, dynamic visual moment that, unlike the perfect six, lasts a lifetime.”
The work is published by Washington Green Fine Art Publishing. Each limited-edition print has been hand-finished and signed by Vaughan.
The pictures show Michael Vaughan’s ‘artballing’ technique and one of the resulting pictures, called ‘Power Play’.
It’s often said that there are no unique ideas out there – only unique means of executing those ideas. Swiss artist Felice Varini, however, has been executing his incredibly unique ides in a unique way since 1978. His singular style of geometric painting calls into question our ideas about complex art pieces and the interaction between art and viewer.
A Vision of Unisial Artist
Upon seeing Varini’s work for the first time, most people react by claiming it’s fake. Indeed, when looking at a photograph of a Varini painting from the vantage point, the painted object does appear to float in mid-air, like it’s been overlaid in Photoshop. But once you see the same painting from outside of the vantage point, it’s clear that the piece was created in real life without the use of computer trickery. He paints shapes and geometric patterns in three-dimensional spaces, so that when the viewer sees the piece from a specific vantage point it makes sense, but when viewed from outside of the vantage point the shape appears skewed and distorted.
arT of infinity
Though the technique looks incredibly complicated, Varini insists that “anyone can do it.” He says that his type of painting requires no special talent; rather, it requires thinking and choosing the right spaces. The spaces he tends to choose are wide-open interior spaces, such as museums and hallways, or exterior locations like rooftops or even entire villages. His goal, he says, is to explore aspects of the space that have heretofore been ignored.
arT of Life
arTist school!
Although you can only see the complete, sensical painting from one specific vantage point, Varini insists that the most important aspect of his paintings is what lies outside of the vantage point. The myriad configurations viewable from every other possible aspect are what keep him inspired to continue creating these complex paintings. While the vantage point offers a predictable view, looking at the piece from any other spot creates an entirely new and unpredictable experience.
The Unknown of Science
Science understood, World Not
Thinking and creating much different than most other artists, Varini has indicated that he never considers the viewer when creating his paintings. He doesn’t consider how the pieces may someday be seen because he doesn’t know how or from where the viewer will see them. He simply creates a piece of art and sets it free to have an independent existence. According to Varini, the viewer can see the piece, be part of the piece, or even walk through it without noticing it or being able to identify it.
Vision: Reality or Sense?
In the artist’s words, from an interview with Poetic Mind:
“Everyone knows how a circle or a square looks like. My concern is what happens outside the vantage point of view. Where is the painting then? Where is the painter? The painter is obviously out of the work, and so the painting is alone and totally abstract, made of many shapes. The painting exists as a whole, with its complete shape as well as the fragments; it is not born to create specific shapes that need to satisfy the viewer. The paintings are not defined by the understanding of the viewer or what the viewer sees, but rather exist in their own right, and have their own relation to the three-dimensional space in which they were created. I work with the reality itself, with nature.
Future, present in past.
Although he creates his paintings on-site and usually on a large scale, Felice Varini does not consider himself an installation artist. He calls himself a painter, because regardless of where or how his art is realized, it is – at its core – a series of complex and beautiful paintings.
Source: weburbanist.com
None of the captions, alternative texts, or otherwise related to the according image attributes in any way represent arThou, inc. and, if any, these are solely thoughts and visions of the person who posted them. arThou, inc. is a corporation that encourages people to express themselves in whichever [legal] way possible.The thoughts and expressions expressed on this page, including, but not limited to, pictures are solely that of the individual who posted them or commented or, as mentioned foreabove, about them. arThou, inc. does not necessarily have the same views. arThou, inc. does not have liability for what the members of the corporation or individuals who affiliate themselves with it say or do. arThou is about arT, arTists, love, connections, being free.
arThou, inc. is a hipppporation. Love has to Be Back Take it or Love it!
The comments were made by luefher; see what he saw.
A 14-artist exhibition at Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art is a fantastic time capsule that travels back to the 1960s to remind visitors that thinking about art exclusively in terms of masterpieces and superstars ignores lots of good stuff, including messy experimentation, struggle, self-discovery and goofiness. Simply titled “60’s,” the fascinating, often wonderfully funky show is also a good bit of revisionist history. It reveals the depth and complexity of an emerging art scene that has still not made it into the history books.
Well-known artists are represented by eye-opening early works. An untitled abstract painting from 1960 by John Coplans shows the artist, writer and editor as a capable colorist whose interest in stiff, interlocked geometry would soften, but never disappear, over his long career. “Power Plant,” a nearly 6-foot-square canvas by Barry Le Va, evokes Philip Guston and H.C. Westermann and filters both through Le Va’s lifelong focus on the power of line and its capacity for drama.
Lesser-known artists are represented by a high percentage of first-rate works. These include Roger Kuntz’s point-blank painting of the lines painted in the intersections of busy city streets; Ynez Johnston’s raw canvas that recalls ancient cave paintings; Ron Miyashiro’s three frighteningly sexual sculptures; and John Barbour’s six hard-edged abstractions, each snazzier than its neighbor.
Worthy if not utterly original pieces by such often-overlooked artists as Tom Eatherton, Michael Olodort, Jim Eller and Stan Bitters add depth and a sense of interconnectedness to a scene defined by great inventiveness and even more back-and-forth, up-and-down dialogue.
Beijing artists and gallery owners say the economic downturn will improve quality.
BEIJING — Fabien Fryns, who runs the F2 gallery in Caochangdi village on the outskirts of Beijing, does not look like a man who is worried about the financial crisis.
“The middle has dropped out of the market,” said Fryns, discretely smoking a cigar in the gallery’s voluminous interior garden, “but the top and the bottom are both strong.”
What is “the middle”? Pieces from $30,000 to $500,000, according to Fryns.
Compared to the stock market, or nearly any other place one can put one’s money these days, Chinese contemporary art still looks like a very good investment. Recent art auctions in Hong Kong have registered sales at the high end of their estimates, even though the targets the auction houses are setting for themselves are less ambitious today than previous years.
The owners of some of the best Beijing galleries said the shakeout promises to be a positive development for dealers, but also for artists. No one likes a bubble and there was growing concern that easy riches were destroying creativity by encouraging Chinese artists to go after major sales, rather than the real thing.
Li Xianting, the former editor of the magazine China Fine Arts who is considered the spiritual father of the contemporary art movement, said media hype transformed many artists into “money celebrities” and produced a twisted form of art.
Pan Xing Lei, a sculptor and painter who recently returned to Beijing from New York, said the financial crisis would weed out less serious artists.
“The artists who are serious can take this time to reflect and to develop their ideas,” he said. “The others will go back to their villages, or do something else.”
The craze over contemporary Chinese art began to trigger serious waves on the international art scene in 2005, after the auction house Sotheby’s established an Asian contemporary art department and began buying up works. Many of the artists were reacting to the Tiananmen Square massacre and grappling with the wrenching changes in Chinese society, a fact that made them especially interesting as an emerging China began to make its influence felt in other domains.
“The relationship was becoming difficult because many of the artists were spoiled,” Fryns said. “The scene in the last few years was crazy. You were given an hour to decide if you wanted to buy a piece.”
In March 2006, an auction that was expected to bring in $6 million raised $13 million. In 2007, a single painting, “Executioner,” by Yue Minjun, famous for his cynical-realist political pop caricatures of himself with a frozen smile, went for $5.9 million, up from the $32,200 the original owner had paid a decade earlier.
With results like that, China’s own millionaires, many of them newly minted, began buying art mostly as investment.
“None of them had time to study what it was that was making contemporary art so successful,” Fryns said, “so they bought the pieces that were going for the highest prices.”
A sprawling gallery complex known as 798, which occupies a former military factory complex, became the third most popular tourist destination in Beijing. By the time it had succeeded, however, the more exclusive galleries and many of the more serious artists had already moved to more remote art villages, including Songzhuan and Caochangdi, where F2 is located.
Brian Wallace, who runs the Red Gate Gallery in an ancient guard tower on a remnant of the city’s original Ming wall, noted that 798 seems to be evolving from gallery space to retail space. But Wallace had no doubt that China will continue to inject enormous creativity and professionalism into the contemporary art scene.
“Art is a career path in China,” Wallace said. “It is like being a doctor or a lawyer.”
The recession’s impact on real estate speculation connected to art may be a different story. Beijing’s dazzling Today Art Museum, the city’s first independent museum focusing on contemporary art, will probably succeed. But a flashy nearby gallery complex known as 22 Art Plaza International, which had intended to capitalize on the museum’s attraction, stands largely empty.
Fryns said F2 and other leading galleries prefer the more remote location at Caochangdi, because the space is reasonable, and there is a lot of it. A collector who has flown to Beijing, ready to spend a million dollars or more on a painting, has no difficulty finding the location.
“We don’t get the drop-in crowd, the casual passers-by, the young couple with cameras, but that is not what we’re looking for,” Fryns said.
And Fryns is convinced that in the long term, the best art will continue to hold its value. “There is very little quality material coming on the market today,” he said. “People are holding on to what they have. There are a lot of newly wealthy Chinese billionaires. Once they have bought everything else, a certain number will turn to contemporary art. They will want to collect the best work that is Chinese, and there is a limited supply of that.”
Evelyn, a PARC artist, relishes the chance to glaze pottery. Art director Flora McCabe says that Evelyn is very detailed and focused when it comes to the glazing.
Evelyn and other artists at PARC have been putting finishing touches on pottery, paintings and jewelry.
With an affinity for ceramics, she delights in glazing pottery for other PARC artists.
“She is very detailed, focused and completes the glazing thoroughly,” said PARC art director Flora McCabe.
On Friday evening, Evelyn and other PARC artists will have the opportunity to showcase their masterpieces. The event, Art in the PARC, will take place in the College of Business at USF’s St. Petersburg campus, where more than 500 original works of art will be on display and available for sale.
Paintings, ceramics, papier mache, painted fish on canvas, jewelry, handmade pottery and pins will be among the offerings. There will also be note cards with PARC art and a special PARC blend of coffee created by local beanery, Javámo, with original art featured on the bags. There will be pieces starting as low as $5, said Nancy Giles, director of business relations who is coordinating the event.
“Our goal is to share affordable and original art and jewelry. Each piece is one of a kind and is made by PARC artists with developmental disabilities in collaboration with art instructors,” Giles said.
PARC artists benefit by gaining life skills through art enrichment. Those skills are socialization, boosting self-esteem, and experiencing a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment, said McCabe, who has been teaching art at PARC for 9 years.
Artists select the media they want to work with, and they can change as inspiration strikes.
“Some people like to work with clay, some like to glaze and others like to paint. Some really enjoy doing an entire piece of pottery or artwork all by themselves,” McCabe said.
PARC has served as a social service agency for bay area residents since 1953. It serves more than 700 adults and children with developmental disabilities and offers more than 40 unique programs, like the art enrichment that PARC clients receive. These programs showcase PARC’s mission in action, “Turning disabilities into capabilities.”
19 Sunday
Cool Art Show: Cool Art, in its 21st year, is a juried fine art and craft show and sale hosted by PAVA, the Professional Association of Visual Artists. Concessions will be available. Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Free admission and parking. Visit coolartshow.com.
Doodlebugs and their Kin: What are doodlebugs? Explore their lifestyle and observe their behavior and the behavior of their lacewing relatives. This event is recommended for ages 6 to 10. 1-2:30 p.m. Weedon Island Preserve, 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg. Free. Call (727) 453-6500 or visit weedonislandpreserve.org.
Sunday Afternoon at the Pier: Enjoy Jazz music and R&B from the “On Que Players” at the Pier’s Waterside Courtyard. 1 to 4 p.m. The Pier, 800 Second Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. Free. Call (727) 821-6443.
Summer One Act Play Festival: Nine short plays by local playwrights, featuring both comedy and drama, staged by the Gulfport Community Players. 2 p.m. Catherine Hickman Theatre, 5501 27th Ave. S, Gulfport. $15. Call (727) 322-0316 or visit gulfportcommunityplayers.org.
20 Monday
How to Write a Business Plan: The Florida Small Business Development Center presents a free seminar on how to write a business plan. 6 to 8 p.m. St. Petersburg Business Development Center, 440 Second Ave. N. For registration or more information, call (727) 893-7146.
Paper: Off and On the Wall: More than 25 artists have created original, current wallpaper representations of chintzes, heavy damasks, chinoiseries, and tromp l’oeil patterns, with influences of contemporary design. Florida Craftsmen Galleries, 501 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Call (727) 821-7391.
21 Tuesday
“First Time Homebuyers” Seminar: The Community Service Foundation will present a seminar to help first-time homebuyers purchase a home and qualify for down payment and closing cost assistance. 6 to 9 p.m. Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N, St. Petersburg. Free. Call (727) 461-0618 or visit csfhome.org.
Health and Wellness Business Showcase: Open to interested community members, local health care providers, and wellness practitioners. Complimentary wine and healthy treats provided. 5 to 8 p.m. Free. Healthy Being Wellness Boutique, 425 33rd Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Call (727) 502-3464.
St. Petersburg College Jazz Band Concert: The SPC Jazz Band, which consists of 15 students of all ages, will perform musical numbers by jazz legends Neal Hefti, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. 7:30 p.m. St. Petersburg College Music Center, 6605 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Free. Call (727) 341-4737 or visit spcollege.edu/spg/music.
22 Wednesday
Landscape Design: Florida-Style Gardening class on creating a pleasing landscape design that requires little maintenance and is easy on the environment. 6 to 8:30 p.m. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way S, St. Petersburg. Registration required, $10. Call (727) 893-7326.
Sun Safety Seminar: The Bayfront Medical Center and the city of St Pete Beach are offering a free “Fun in the Sun” Safety Seminar. The family-friendly seminar will consist of multiple informational booths, tips on sun safety for all ages, giveaways, and a free skin cancer screening for everyone who attends. 6 p.m. St. Pete Beach Community Center, 7701 Boca Ciega Drive. Call the Recreation Department at (727) 363-9245 for more details.
23 Thursday
Dive-In Movie: The St. Pete Beach Aquatic Center’s first “Dive-In Movie” was such a success that it is hosting it again. Bring your floats and chairs and watch Shark Tale on the big screen. 8 p.m. Family Aquatic Center, 7701 Boca Ciega Drive. Admission is $2 and limited to the first 150 guests. Call the Recreation Department at (727) 363-9245 to register and for more information.
24 Friday
Oddlie:Performing artist Aleshea Harris brings Oddlie’s story to life with a blend of theater, spoken word and music. 7:30 p.m. Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. $20 for adults, $15 students and seniors. Call (727) 895-6620.
25 Saturday
“All Aboard For Murder! Detective Dinner Theater”: Interactive play, 7 p.m. Hilton, St. Petersburg, 333 First St. S. $49.95 plus tax. Reservations required. Call (727) 446-8569 or visit detectivedinner.com.
“Prism” Concert: The Al Downing education scholarship fund presents its annual “Prism” concert featuring past and present scholarship winners. 7:30 p.m. The Palladium, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Contact the Palladium at (727) 822-3590 or Aldowningjazz.com for ticket information.
Saturday Summer Market: Produce, crafts and more, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m, first floor, Mahaffey Theater/Progress Energy Center for the Arts Parking Garage, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg. Call (727) 455-4921 or visit saturdaymorningmarket.com.
Art in the PARC
All proceeds benefit the children and adults with developmental disabilities at PARC.
When: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Where: USF St. Petersburg College of Business, 263 13th Ave. S, third floor, St. Petersburg.
From hands-on group painting and live music at ArtWhole Studios, to original works, performance art and live ballet at The Creamery Arts Center, First Friday Art Walk is packed with summer fun in August. Join us 6-10 p.m. Aug. 7 in 22 participating galleries. Among the highlights:
• ArtWhole Studios offers studio owner Chet Burgtorf’s new photography series Colors of the Caribbean, plus new works by artists Scott Green, Sarah E. Splitter and Allen J. Miller. Participate in a group painting, and enjoy music by Moonhoney and appetizers by Twilight Grille.
• Bodhi Salon & Spa welcomes photographer Carmelita “Carmi” DeLeon, who got her start shooting collegiate sports and now does everything from portraiture to commercial work.
• The Creamery Arts Center presents Opening an Art Gallery – Arts in the Park Exhibition, featuring the work of young artists from the Springfield Community Center with a special guest appearance by the Springfield Ballet.
• Elite PhotoArt features Artist Gary Adamson, a painter and caricaturist, and Photography by Edward Biamonte, best known as head photographer and photo editor for 417 Magazine.
• Fresh Gallery presents Painter Ann Meese and Jewelry Artist Elaine Willig.
• Global Fayre presents Baskets of Botswana, featuring museum-quality baskets hand-woven by the women of the Beyei and Hambukushu tribes in northern Botswana, plus a Kiva Awareness Evening on the Kiva micro lending program that aids entrepreneurs and alleviates poverty worldwide.
• Obelisk Home at the Inspired Commerce Building features Artist David Cogorno, a sculptor whose work “is a study of our interactions with spaces (and within them).”
• Randy Bacon Gallery shares the deeply moving experiences of grieving families in the Lost & Found Photo Exhibit.
For parents who want to attend Art Walk but think they can’t afford child care, think again! Family Art Night at the Downtown Y offers child care for ages 3 months to 12 years, 6:30-9 p.m. every First Friday for only $10 per child. Kids enjoy healthy activities and snacks, story time and a hands-on art project to take home. The Aug. 7 arts activity is Rainbow Fish. Call (417) 862-8962, ext. 149 for information or to preregister. Full details of the Aug. 7 Art Walk appear in the August Gallery Guide below.
August Gallery Guide
ArtWhole Studios, 408 W. Walnut, features studio owner Chet Burgtorf’s new photography series Colors of the Caribbean, plus new works by artists Scott Green, Sarah E. Splitter and Allen J. Miller. Guests will once again have a chance to take part in our monthly group painting, because at the ArtWhole, “group stuff is great.” Enjoy the gypsy tango stylings of Moonhoney and appetizers from Twilight Grille. For more information or to make an appointment call (417) 866-7929 or email us at artw...@att.net. www.artwholestudios.com
Big Smile Photography, 207 Park Central East, features international award-winning wedding and portrait photographer Jeremy Lawson’s creative lifestyle wedding and portraiture work. Big Smile displays Jeremy’s one-of-a-kind portrait and wedding images from local events, as well as events from around the world. (417) 527-2885 www.bigsmilestudios.com Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F and by appointment
Bodhi Salon and Spa, 431 S. Jefferson, Ste. 106, presents cross-genre photographer Carmelita “Carmi” DeLeon. Carmi began her career as a collegiate sports photographer in the early 1990s when she fell in love with the camera and its ability to capture the beauty of the human spirit. Over the years Carmi has expanded her focus to include family and animal portraits, nature, engagements, reunions and commercial photography, including work on a historical shoot of power equipment for Cadet Connection Magazine. Her philanthropic endeavors include serving as an official photographer for the MS150 Bike Tour. (417) 864-4399 www.bodhisalonandspa.com Open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. M-F; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat
The Creamery Arts Center, 411 N. Sherman Parkway, presents Opening an Art Gallery – Arts in the Park Exhibition 6-9 p.m. during Art Walk, with a special guest appearance by the Springfield Ballet. Arts in the Park, now in its eighth year, is a summer arts education program for 86 students from the Springfield Community Center. Come see their creations in pottery, painting, costume design, film, photography, puppetry and performance art. Springfield Ballet performs at 7 and 8 p.m., offering a mixed bill of classical ballet excerpts, as well as original contemporary ballets staged and choreographed by Springfield Ballet faculty and guest faculty Charlotte Hart. (417) 862-ARTS (2787) www.SpringfieldArts.org Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F; closed major holidays
DB Design Salon & Art Gallery, 326 S. Campbell, presents Featured Artist Cyndilee in August. In addition to Cyndilee’s acrylics, DB Design also features works by painters Debbie Sutherland and Jerry Ellis, potters John Ehlers, Duane Bone, Cheryl Matlock, Julia Schaefer and Katrina Stevens, jewelry artists Jill LeGrand and Tammy Kirks, and stained-glass artist Nathan Smith. (417) 864-4343
Elite PhotoArt Fine Art Gallery, 325 E. Walnut St., features Artist Gary Adamson. Gary is a painter and caricaturist and is based in Springfield. He majored in art at Drury University and holds an MFA from Fontbonne University, St. Louis. (www.garyadamson.com) Also featured is Photography by Edward Biamonte. Edward will display some of his landscapes and fine art. Edward also serves as head photographer and photo editor for 417 Magazine. (www.edwardbiamonte.com) Elite PhotoArt will also feature hand-crafted jewelry by Big Nose Creations, pottery by Bari Precious, artwork by Ammie Cyr, Nancy Rose and Jay; and photography by Larry Daniel, Katia Lee, Dwayne Hillme and Gallery owners Will and Lisa Roberts. (417) 569-3322 or (417) 234-7761 www.elitephotoart.com Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. T-F; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat or by appointment.
Fashioned By Jaye, 212 S. Campbell, features a joint show of Digital Artwork by Kourtnie Putnam and Jaye Coltharp. (417) 862-4100 www.fashionedbyjaye.com Open Noon-7 p.m. M-F; 2-7 p.m. Sat
Fitzwilly’s Gifts & Antiques, 308 South Ave., is a longtime downtown retailer featuring antiques, gift items and collectibles. Its monthly art exhibits emphasize unique sketches and paintings by talented local artists. (417) 866-3696 Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat; First Friday hours 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Fresh, located at the southwest corner of Campbell and Walnut, presents Featured Artists Ann Meese and Elaine Willig in August. Ann, a painter, fell in love with art early, majoring in art at MSU in the ‘60s. After a 35-year career as an educator and administrator – and raising four children – Ann has returned to her passion. “Creating a painting is a small journey,” she says. “At the end of that journey, what remains on the canvas is an impression that evokes a variety of feelings for me. I hope you enjoy the images that I share.” A jewelry artist, Elaine says color is paramount in her work, which incorporates a wide range of materials. “Working silver and shaping unique gemstones, and using the most flexible beading materials, my designs come from precious metals, vintage glass, crystals, handmade beads, gemstones, silver, gold, copper and brass.” (417) 862-9300 Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. T-Th; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. F-Sat
Gillioz Theatre, 325 Park Central East, presents Artist Rosalie Perryman. Rosalie’s intent is to capture the beauty and details of nature by painting from her photographs, creating intense and vibrant watercolors. Photography is a passion, and the love of nature and the ability to see and to capture nature in art is her inspiration and joy. Besides her visual art pursuits in photography, watercolor, oil, acrylic and digital mediums, Rosalie is also a performing artist as a marionette cabaret-style puppeteer. Rosalie has owned and operated RLP Puppet Company for 30 years and the Jubilee Theater Center in Marshfield for 12 years. (417) 863-7843 www.gillioz.org
Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell, presents Baskets of Botswana, featuring museum-quality baskets hand woven by the women of the Beyei and Hambukushu tribes in northern Botswana. These baskets are created by 24 women that form the Etsha Weavers Group. They have many years of weaving experience, a skill that has been passed down for generations. Global Fayre also presents a Kiva Awareness Evening during the August Art Walk. Kiva connects people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. (417) 873-9792 www.globalfayre.com Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. M-W, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Th-Sat, 1-5 p.m. Sun or by appointment
Good Girl Art Gallery, 325 E. Walnut St., Ste. 101, presents local artist Chad Woody for the month of August. Chad’s show, Dolls for Devils consists of highly imaginative prints, drawings and sculptures reflecting Chad’s exploration into the sometimes dark and humorous caverns of the human mind. Also showing will be paintings by fellow Springfield artist Misty Ware. (417) 865-7055 www.goodgirlartgallery.com Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. T-F; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat
Hawthorn Galleries Inc., 214 E. Walnut St., presents Painter Dan McWilliams. With his unique blend of impressionistic realism, McWilliams “extracts the spirit of his subjects while illuminating the transient nature of light and color. Evoking nostalgia, his paintings stir emotions and memories for the viewer.” Meet the artist and enjoy live music by Ron Preston at the opening reception during Art Walk. (417) 866-6688 www.myspace.com/hawthorngallery Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. T-F; 1-5 p.m. Sat
Inveno Health, 429 N. Boonville Ave., displays new and vibrant work by local Painter/Printmaker Stephanie Cramer, whose colorful work pairs perfectly with the amazing facility architecture and design by Obelisk Home. Venture north of the square in August to the galleries at Inveno Health and Obelisk Home. We might be off the path, but it’s worth the walk! (417) 831-1270 Open 6-10 Art Walk evening or contact us for a tour at info@invenohealth.com.
Nonna’s Italian Café, 306 South Ave., presents A Retrospective of Works by Pokey Alrutz, including acrylic abstracts, watercolor paintings, collages, cajas de milagros, coloring books, and tapestries. Pokey has shown in many places in the Springfield area over the years, including her first show at Nonna’s in 1993. The highlight of Pokey’s career is when Salvador Dali invited her to dinner in Figueras to discuss abstraction shortly before he passed away. She dedicates this show to the memory of querido Salvador. (417) 831-1222 www.nonnascafe.com
Obelisk Home at the Inspired Commerce Building, 214 W. Phelps, presents Featured Artist David Cogorno. David, who holds a BA from Drury University, is working toward his MFA in sculpture at the University of Kansas. David grew up in St. Louis and has studied and worked in Italy and Peru. “Nature is my escape from the chaos of the world and my greatest source of inspiration. I enjoy venturing out and finding my way through obstacles that confront me; rock formations, dense foliage, bodies of water, etc.,” David says. “My current work is a study of our interactions with spaces (and within them) revealing patterns, inter-relationships, and common themes that attempt to create a unique visual experience.” (417) 616-6488 www.obeliskhome.com
Park Central Branch Library, 128 Park Central Square, features the post-modern art of Jim Delgadillo and folk singer J.R. Top. (417) 831-1342 http://parkcentrallibrary.blogspot.com Open 7 a.m.-8 p.m. M-Th; 7 a.m.-10 p.m. F-Sat
Randy Bacon Photography and Figment Art Gallery in the Monarch Art Factory, 600 W. College St., unveils Randy’s Lost & Found Photo Exhibit during the Aug. 7 Art Walk. More than 40 families receiving grief support services from Lost & Found participated in a photo exhibit to share their stories on the journey of grief. Experience their personal stories and photos that reflect their emotional struggles, steps towards healing, and their embracing of a new life that is forever changed. Visit the adjacent Figment Art Gallery & Culture House to view the latest work by house artists Kelly Kennedy, Kat Allie and Abby Waters. For more information, call (417) 868-8179. www.randybacon.com www.gallerysounds.net Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. T-F; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat
Rox Stoneworks, 220 S. Campbell, Second Floor, (entrance on McDaniel), the studio of Sculptor Bruce Burnaugh, presents Works in Progress by Rox Studio students, Paintings by James Crafford and Francois LaRiviere and Paintings and Mixed Media by Charity Blansit. ROX Stoneworks is a working studio teaching stone sculpture Sat, Sun and Mon, 9:30-3:30. www.springfieldarts.org/ROXstoneworks
Springfield Hot Glass Studio, 314 S. Campbell Ave., is a working hot glass studio/gallery with facilities for furnace, torch and kiln work. Springfield Hot Glass Studio continually displays its current blown glass, beads and fused work, offering live demonstrations on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and First Fridays. Classes are available; please visit our Web site. (417) 868-8181 www.springfieldhotglass.com Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. M-Th; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. F-Sat
Springfield Pottery, 416 S. Campbell Ave., a fine craft gallery and community clay center, features some of the best examples of fine craft in clay, wood, metal, glass, fibers, photography, printmaking, and jewelry by over 45 local, regional and national artists. (417) 864-4677 www.springfieldpottery.com Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. T-Sat
Susan Sommer-Luarca Fine Art Gallery and Frame Shoppe, 221 Park Central South, exhibits a large body of Susan’s work in originals and fine giclee, museum prints. Susan is an internationally known and widely acclaimed artist with the honor of being Official Artist for the U.S. Olympic Team, Beijing. Official Triple Crown Horse Racing Artist and Artist for the 2008 Super Bowl, Susan also paints LIVE at many nationally televised events. (417) 866-4ART (4278) www.sslworldwide.com
Take it or Love it!