Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Business Council for the Arts: On My Own Time 2011


I visited NorthPark mall today to see the 2011 On My Own Time art exhibit sponsored by North Texas Business Council for the Arts. This is the 19th annual installment of this jurored amateur competition that features the artistic talent of North Texas business professionals.  This exhibition opened September 18 and runs through October 2, 2011.  I saw many photographs with painting, drawing, and sculpture mixed in.  Here are a few of the works that caught my eye:

Lisa Jones, Don't Look Back!, paint of canvas

I'll start with Lisa Jones because she stopped by Ro2 Art gallery yesterday and told me that she had work in On My Own Time.  I had not realized the exhibition was up. Thank you, Lisa.

David Schulze, Gate House at Mabel Dodge, oil on canvas

Of course this one caught my eye.  It is by my very good friend, David Schulze, who not only paints but is also a lawyer for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit.  I have one of David's paintings in my collection.  I don't recall, however, David telling me about this exhibition.

Norman Kary, Constillation, mixed media
IBM

Another Dallas artist friend.  I posted a pic of another of Norman Kary's works in my post "Meltdown" 2011 Annual MAC Membership Exhibition.

Doug Lott, Twin Cubes, sculpture

Lott's sculpture looks like folded paper on a wood base, but not sure since the card stated only "sculpture".  It caught my eye amongst the other objects because it resembles sculpture that I live with daily.  Not the same, but similar.

Tamara Wascovich, Red Balloon, mixed media

Vivid colors. Sweet face of a child. Red is quite literal.  Balloon is only imagined.


Richard Wright, Grain View, sculpture

Drawing. Paint. Hand carved wood. Folk Art in the mall with di Suvero and Dine.


Alecia Wortham, Mini Mickey, sculpture

This one caught my eye because it was practically hidden behind a fluffy creche 'sculpture'.  The On My Own Time rules for artwork that will not be shown include:
"#2. Works of art that are not suitable for a family venue, including viewing by young children"
this one apparently barely made it into the show.  I bet the fig leaf was added later and then the sculpture was strategically placed behind a larger and fluffier sculpture.  I can't tell if Mini Mickey is carved stone or cast bronze, but it does seem to be well crafted.

Patrick Perez, Alamo Plaza, enhanced photography
Ben E. Keith

The Alamo Plaza hotel courts was torn down earlier this year.  It was a cool old place that had long outlived Dallas' rebuild it and they'll come back mentality.  I was glad to see this reminder.

Ro2 Art: Dallas Observer's 2011 Best Gallery

Congratulations to Jordan Roth and his mom and business partner Susan Roth Romans for their gallery 


And thanks to them both for giving me an opportunity to intern with them in the gallery!!

Jordan Roth on the far right listening to the artist talk for Import on September 1.  Artists facing us are left to right

After 33 years of continuous banking experience, I found myself unemployed at the end of 2010.  I continue to search for a new banking position to continue my career, or any other full time employment at this point. Times are hard. 
So I started this blog to see what types of opportunities this type of exposure may afford me.  I went to Ro2 Art on August 15th to capture pics of the exhibition to use on this blog.  (See my post Import below)  While speaking to Jordan on that day, I discovered he was in need of a new intern as most of his summer help had all returned to school for the fall semester.  I applied the next day and have been happily interning since the middle of August, gaining valuable retail experience and adding skills to my resume.
It has been like icing on the cake for Ro2 Art to be named Dallas Observer's Best Gallery for 2011!!!

I'm usually in the gallery on Monday, Thursday and Friday.  Stop by and say 'hi' and check out the fine program of artworks that Ro2 Art is presenting to the Dallas scene.  Here are a few pics of the art by the three artists mentioned in the article: Kathy Robinson-Hays, Terry Hays, and Val Curry:
 Val Curry Mudra Machine 1 - 4


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Federico Uribe Studio Visit

Uribe looking over his newest sculpture Jardin de Rosas

Seeing Uribe’s work in pics and videos from the Houston Fine Art Fair, I thought back to this past January when we visited his studio.
this pic has been reposted from a Glasstire facebook post

tsrapp1700 posted this on YouTube.  Uribe's work is pictured here, and more of his works are at 3:25 minutes through 3:51 minutes.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity for an impromptu studio visit with Federico Uribe.  His studio is in Miami next door to Carolina Sardi’s studio.  Janda Wetherington said that we must see his studio.  Sardi phoned Uribe and asked if she could bring us over.  Once inside, I realized that we had been seeing Uribe’s work at art fairs for a number of years.  Here are some pics of his work we captured in 2006 at Scope Art Fair Miami.
 left top: I'm Helping You (yellow), 2006, colored pencils, 48" x 14"
left bottom: I'm Helping You (green), 2006, colored pencils, 48" x 14"
 detail of I'm HelpingYou (yellow)
 Alone, 2006, colored pencils, 72" x 48"

Janda had been telling us about a solo installation that Uribe had created for one of the 2010 art fairs.  She said that it was a recreation of the rain forests of Uribe’s native Columbia that he had sculpted using books.



Cedar of Lebanon, 2010, books, 114" x 66" x 73"
 
Uribe utilizes found materials to create his sculptures. Some of the sculptures such as those seen at the Houston Fine Art Fair are abstract objects, while many of the sculptures we saw in his studio were more representational.  Uribe uses objects such as screws, garden tools, Puma shoes, shoe laces, pencils, and books to create these unique works of art.

 Gladiator, 2008, shoe laces and pins, 84" x 60"
Everybody Gets Screwed, 2001/2002, screws, metal mesh, nails, each 29" x 18" x 12"
 more than five sculptures in this section of his studio, plus his car, Carolina Sardi pictured with me in the yellow shirt far right
 Gladiator, 2010, books, 34" x 34" x 70"
 information not available
information not available

After the studio visit, I walked up the block from PanAmerican ArtProjects to visit NOW Contemporary Art gallery who represents Uribe’s work in Miami.  NOW Contemporary Art published a hardback catalog of Uribe’s work and I purchased it on the spot.  394 pages of glossy photos, essay, bio and descriptions of the work – it weighs 4.4 lbs, but we carried it home in our carry-on bag so that we could marvel at the sculptures as we flew home.





Friday, September 16, 2011

Rusty Scruby's Works @ Houston Fine Art Fair

photo from Janda Wetherington

PanAmerican ArtProjects' booth at the 2011 Houston Fine Art Fair.  This picture features the works of Carolina Sardi on the left and Rusty Scruby on the right.  Rusty's installation piece, Oregon Coast, is hanging on the inside wall, while Atari Windshield and All I See is Gray hang to the right on the back wall.  All of Rusty's works have been created in 2011.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Interview with Charlotte Smith

Coraluscious, 2011, acrylic on canvas
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: I want to start by asking you about your new paintings.  I’ve seen the images of your show at Anya Tish Gallery and now in this catalog for your exhibition at Cris Worley Fine Arts.  It’s different, not quite as 3D with the dots, and as it says in the press release “…buoyant orbs have now evolved into glistening amorphous shapes that ask the viewer to experience the sublime curiosity of pure, unadulterated abstraction.”  So what else can you tell me about that?
CS: Actually, the first few layers are similar to the “dots” or layering, but I’ve added more layers on top of that with clear materials. So there’s actually still a lot of physical depth to them, so it’s almost like seeing back into the paintings to what I was doing, then there’s another layer on top that’s almost like a lace….glossy….so that’s another layer added to what I’ve already been doing. It’s not a 3 dimensional as say the ‘piles’ coming out, but it’s still a continuation, and that’s why we called the show “Push”. Because we felt like we were pushing it just another step…in a similar direction but it looks different. But it is still an additive process, and definitely an abstract.

Coraluscious detail
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith


HC: Your work has a lot to do with process.
CS: It’s very process driven because it’s…because the roots of my getting into art is more like therapy. I’m not interested in making an object that’s recognizable. I like playing with the materials. I’ve always enjoyed that more than trying to draw out a cute little scene or a flower or something like that. I just love working with the materials and seeing what they’ll do. And actually this latest process came out of the doing the paint as circle on circle, but as the paint got heavier it started to drooping in the middle, and I work horizontally (she held her arm at a slight angle to horizontal) and the paint started running a bit and they started to loose their circular forms and began to create these amorphous type shapes. They’re kinda oblong and amoeba looking. They started out round, but then they started creating their own shapes, which led to something new.

Serene Dream II, 2011, acrylic on canvas
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: So I caught up with you and your career after you’d gotten out of art school and you were still in 500X.  So my perception, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that you started exhibiting your art later in life - after you had a career in the airline industry. What inspired you to take up art and start painting?
CS: Well, I had studied art in the early 80’s but I wasn’t that interested.  I was going to school for architecture, I was more interested in architecture. In the mid to late 80’s my mom got really sick, and I spent a lot of time at the hospital. I bought myself some ‘how to paint’ books, water color books, and I was copying stuff out of those books because I spent hours at the hospital with her.  I started putting the pictures up on the wall and my mom really enjoyed that. So that’s where I kinda started painting a lot.  Then I decided to take some lessons, and I studied with a private artist for a while.  Her name is Jane Jones and she’s always been a really good mentor to me and a very talented teacher.  And then she encouraged me to go to North Texas and check out some classes out there.  So I signed up for a couple of graduate classes, not knowing that you had to actually apply to graduate school (she laughs) to get in.  And my first teacher was Vincent Falsetta and he suggested that I sign up and try to get in the program. And then I got accepted!  So I kinda went into it backwards, but it was a wonderful experience and I’m glad that it happened.
HC: And you and Vincent seem to still work together closely. I know that you exhibit together often.
CS: Yes, he’s always been a really great mentor, he was a great teacher to have, and he’s become a really good friend, and definitely has influenced my work a lot.
  
Dreamscape detail, 2011, acrylic on canvas
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: I tend to see the influences of his work in your work - though they’re not similar at all.  I see that they’re both paint, and they’re abstract, and it’s colorful if not always right in your face with color.
CS: Yeah, there are things about his paintings that I love to stare at and think about. And I wonder how I can get that kind of presence in my work.
HC: Besides Vincent, what other artists inform your work?
CS: When I was in graduate school, I enjoyed looking at and reading about Agnes Martin’s work. I was doing a lot of graphite drawings that were very simple line drawings.  And I like the idea of something that looked minimal but really wasn’t because it had that hand-made quality to it. And there’s times when I try to get that quality in my work, where it looks minimal but when you get up to it you realize there’s nothing minimal about it. Especially with my pieces that are diptychs with the piles in between, and maybe the surface of it will be painted just one color and all you see is this line in the middle.  From a distance it looks minimal then you get up close and you realize there’s all these drops of paint that are obviously hand done and there’s nothing minimal about it.  It’s a lot of hard work.  Eva Hess – I enjoyed reading about her work in graduate school and about the types of explorations with materials and processes.  I thought she and her work is really fascinating.

Curve Appeal detail, 2011, acrylic on wood panel
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: So what did you enjoy, or not enjoy, about being in the art collective 500X? There’s so many great artists that have come through that…
CS: Yes, it was a great experience and I think going from that into showing my work at commercial galleries, it kinda gives you an idea of how hard it is to run a commercial gallery. It’s a lot of frickin’ work. And I was the treasurer there, as well as making art, you have to learn how to curate shows, you have to learn how to physically hang the work, you have to light it, you have to do all the PR, you have to collect the money and you have to pay the bills, and it’s….I think knowing that part of it makes you work better with a commercial gallery.  It makes you appreciate what your gallerists are doing for you. And you don’t take them for granted because you know how hard it is. I also made some great friends out of there that we’re still friends today, and we support each other as artists.  Overall it was a really good experience with very few bad experiences.

Into You, 2011, acrylic on canvas
photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: Great! So this will be your first solo show with Cris Worley Fine Arts
CS: Yeah
HC: Because this is actually her first anniversary, so congratulations for being the first anniversary show with her…
CS: yeah, and Fall Gallery Walk – that’s exciting
HC: absolutely! And this catalog Cris put together looks really good
CS: And Catherine Anspon wrote the essay.  She makes my work sound so sexy. I mean, it is lush and the show looks really great.  Cris’ space is great.  I was there earlier and Cris was there with a collector, which was nice, they were getting a preview. It looks good, I’m excited.

Into You detail 
 photo by Paul Abbott, used with permission from Charlotte Smith

HC: I love her space. I can’t wait to see your work there.
CS: And Cris Worley is one of the hardest working people in the world.
HC: I know it.
CS: I mean, that woman goes above and beyond for her artists. She truly is a force of nature, in my opinion.
HC: I totally agree.  What other shows have you had this year?
CS: I was in a show with the Assistance League in Houston in January, then I had a solo show with Anya Tish Gallery in March.  I did the “Derivatives” show at the GeometricMuseum of MADI Art , that was curated by Vincent. I’m doing this show with Cris.  Coming up, I’m in a group show at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas that’s opening September 24th, and then I’m doing another solo show at Artspace 111 in Fort Worth in December, and then a big solo show at the Galveston Art Center in January, 2012.
HC: Great!
CS: Four solo shows in less than a year has been a lot.
HC: So different work at each of these?
CS: Yes, different work at each of the shows.  Well I’m not sure about the Galveston show yet.
HC: Is Clint Willour going to come up and curate out of your studio?
CS: I’m not sure, but he is coming up for a studio visit in the fall, so we’ll see where it goes after that.
HC: Well, thanks so much for your time today.  I’m looking forward to your show at Cris Worley Fine Art, and good luck with everything you have coming up over the next few months!

Interview with Cris Worley to celebrate the first anniversary of Cris Worley Fine Arts


I wanted to prepare a story to celebrate Cris Worley Fine Arts' first anniversary. So I met Cris at the gallery.  My eyes enjoyed playing across the colorful canvases of Ruben Nieto’s solo exhibition around us as we spoke: 


HC: Thanks for sitting down for an interview with me today, and congratulations on your first anniversary of having your own gallery.
CW: Thank you, thank you so much.  I’m so excited to be able to say I’m having my first anniversary.
HC: Well yeah!
CW: It’s great to be back in the saddle with my colleagues in the community.
HC: What led you to open your own gallery?
CW: After we closed PanAmerican ArtProjects Dallas at the end of 2009, I decided to start doing some consulting. So I started Cris Worley Fine Arts initially as an art consultant and advisory firm. I worked with individual clients and collectors with their individual needs. That was great. I loved doing that.  It is one of my favorite parts of my work – working with the collector. But at the same time, I really missed having that daily interaction with the artists.  I was still in close contact with several of the artists that I had been working with in the past, and I felt like I wanted to provide a forum for them to show their work because at the end of the day that’s what it’s about.  Having a gallery and having a face to the world. I love being able to point to the work and say ‘let me show you what’s it all about’ (she said smiling happily). 
CW: I’ve always enjoyed being a catalyst between the collector, or enthusiast, curator or the critic, what-have-you – and the artist. It’s very exciting to be a biographer, in a way, and tell the story of the artists and their art. I’m an Art Historian by education, and there will always be a bit of Art Historian inside me that sees the bigger picture.

at the grand opening of the gallery, September 2010

HC: So, here’s a personal business question….(she nods, I proceed) How has business been during this first year, which also happens to be one of the worst years in the US economy?
CW: That’s a good question, and I’m really pleased to say that it’s been extremely successful…better than I could have ever imagined. It’s not just monetary, but of course that plays a role because we have to keep the doors open (she smiles) and I’m grateful for the support I’ve had from the local community – be it collectors or all the other players at large. We really are a unit, we’re a group, and you know – facebook, and blogs such as this, all play a huge role in the success of the gallery’s business. So success is measured in so many different ways. There’s been a lot of good energy around this whole thing. It’s interesting – timing is everything. There’ve been earlier times in my life when it was a seedling idea to open a gallery space, but the timing wasn’t right. I have a lot of years of experience now behind me, over a decade, and you just kinda know when you’re ready. Things just align, and the alignment was there and so I just took a deep breath and jumped ‘out of the airplane’, and so far I’ve had a nice soft landing.

Cris Worley Fine Arts inaugural exhibition
 George Quartz, Maysey Craddock, and Rusty Scruby

 William Cannings

 Murielle White

 Isabelle Du Toit and Elliott Johnson

 Ludwig Schwarz, Charlotte Smith, and George Quartz

HC: Excellent.  You have an outstanding program of artists, my bias of course being for Rusty Scruby…
CW: of course (she gives me a wide grin)
HC: I am also very excited to see you exhibiting some of Harry Geffert’s bronze works. Do you have any plans to expand or rework your current programming?

Harry Geffert

CW: Yeah, and I don’t want to give too much away.  In terms of growth, I’ve kept the gallery small and it will continue to be small in size, but I don’t think it will be small in programming. As always, I look at a lot of artists work.  I do a lot of studio visits. I talk to a lot of people and I keep my eyes and ears open.  In that way there will always be expansion. If you want to talk nuts and bolts, I did a lot of group shows in my first year, and those will now parlay into more focused solo shows for the group of artists that I am working with. For the fall there is a really nice concentration of three artists, including Rusty Scruby in November and December, and Harry Geffert in October, and Charlotte Smith in September to kick off the Fall Gallery Walk.  Art fairs are always something that is a consideration.  In terms of expansion, another thing that I’m interested in is education in the programming.  And that may, at first, end up being a collaborative effort with the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas.
HC: And congratulations for becoming a new member of CADD.
CW: Yes, thank you. I was one of the charter members of CADD when I was under the blanket of PanAmerican ArtProjects Dallas. Being a part of the entity, I felt a lot of nurturing toward its creation and early growth.  And so I felt happy to be invited back, by my colleagues, as my own gallery. So thank you.

Cris Worley Fine Arts at the Dallas Art Fair January 2011
William Cannings' sculpture in front

HC: You just mentioned your experience with art fairs, and you participated in the Dallas Art Fair as Cris Worley Fine Arts this past January.  How would you compare your experience with the Dallas Art Fair with your past experience at art fairs outside of Dallas?

me visiting Cris in the PanAmerican ArtProjects booth
at Red Dot Fair Miami, 2007

CW: Well, doing an art fair in your own home town is like an extension of your own gallery and your own gallery openings, and it just feels really good. When you go out of town, and you are setting up shop so to speak, in these foreign countries, or in cities where you’re having to maneuver – which I mean, it can be great, there is a lot of excitement but also extreme uncertainty. It’s great to meet new people, did that too here in Dallas.  And that was also one of the wonderful things about doing the Dallas Art Fair - being in the larger context of the Dallas Art Fair, I met so many new wonderful, enthusiastic and cool people. But, you know, when you’re in another country or in a city other than your own, you’re supporting artists that people may or may not have ever heard of.  You have to expect a bit of a learning curve for people. You just expect that will become a relationship building that will evolve over time. In fact, this whole business is about evolving relationships.
HC: What’s on the horizon for Cris Worley Fine Arts?
CW: I am very interested in working with emerging, innovative, forward thinking artists, but I’m also interested in working with what I call the veteran artists who maybe value a different approach.  I also, at the same time, am interested in new methodologies, new ideas, new media in art, but I’m also extremely focused on technique and skill, and a bit of formalism. So you will continue to see those kind of things evolve here.  I think, for a large part, it will be up to the artists as well. So I’m really excited to continue a relationship with them. You know, the work is always the end result.  I am very honored to be a witness to the process of seeing a body of work come into existence.
HC: So to wrap up, you’ve got Charlotte Smith opening the season in September, followed by Harry Geffert in October into November and then Rusty Scruby closing out 2011….
CW: Yes, and then I have Paul Manes, Maysey Craddock and Murielle White for the spring time periods. I’m still working on January, I have several ideas I am considering.

Cris Worley Fine Arts first show for the 2011/2012 art season opens tonight with new works by Charlotte Smith. A catalog has been published with an essay by Catherine D. Anspon.