Vincent Falsetta: Recent Exhibitions

DG 11-5: Obsessive Worlds

oil on canvas, 60" x 60", 2011

image courtesy of Conduit Gallery

I am most familiar with Vincent Falsetta's paintings such as the one above. However, I am thankful that I recently had the opportunity to view a couple of Falsetta's paintings from 1975 at 500X along with several more recent color study works.  Also, another non-commercial gallery in the same Exposition Park neighborhood of Dallas, The Reading Room, exhibited a collection of index cards that Falsetta uses to sketch and catalog his works in progress.

Falsetta received his BFA at Temple University in 1972, and he earned his MFA at Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 1974.  He began teaching at University of North Texas in 1977 and attained the level of Professor in 1992 and continues to this day.  Falsetta is an alumni of the 500X artist collective, and he has been "teacher" of many of my art friends including Jessica McCambly and Charlotte Smith.  Jessica McCambly has included Falsetta in the exhibition she has curated Big and Bright, and Vincent will be giving an artist talk at the exhibit on January 26, 2012.

Sarah Hamilton curated Falsetta into the exhibition she conceived and brought to fruition at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in 2011 titled Obsessive Worlds. In the catalog for the exhibition we read Falsetta telling us about the title of the painting shown above:

"My most recent painting DG 11-5: Obsessive Worlds was conceived and made for the Obsessive Worlds exhibition. I do not normally title paintings beyond my cataloguing system title, but I did ths time because the title of the exhibition was appropriate to the title of the painting."

Falsetta's system of cataloging his works involves the use of index cards, a process he has employed since the 1980s. These were on view at The Reading Room:

These cards give us an intimate view into the mind and process of the artist.  We find notes that tell us the music he listened to at that moment.  We see little sketches and color charts as he works through his process of problem solving.  On card DC 11-1, 2, Jan 2011, we read, "month later 2010  idea abandoned// new plans for naples yellow pt w/ new questions" then there is a list of questions which seem as abstract as one of his paintings.  Another note on the same card states "Martha responded well to the circular form". Martha is his wife.  On card DG 11-5, 1, June-July 2011,Obsessive Worlds, we find this among the various didactic notes, "Dedicated to Martha, Mario, Trisa, Xander & Doug". A dedication to his family.

These works were not for sale, nor should they ever be.  The purpose of The Reading Room is to explore the intersection of written word and visual images.  And for that, I'd say The Index Cards was a great success.

A few blocks over we were presented with yet more of Falsetta's works at 500X.

Sound Wave Series #7, acrylic on paper, 22.75" x 30.25", 1975

detail of Sound Wave Series #7

Color Studies, 2007 - 2011, oil on museum board, various dimensions

These recent exhibitions of Vincent Falsetta's works afforded me deeper insight to the man I know of as "abstract painter".  I'm very pleased to have gained this understanding of the man whom others that I know refer to as "great teacher" and "husband" and who is also known as "dad".



Big and Bright: New Work From Texas - Press Release

Thursday, January 26 at 11:00am at Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA

"Big and Bright: New Work from Texas" January 26, 2012- February 21, 2012 Southwestern College Art Gallery Opening Receptions Thursday January 26 11-1 & 6-8 SWC Art Gallery Artist Talks Sponsored by the SWC Foundation Thursday January 26 12 PM featuring Matthew Bourbon & Vincent Falsetta .

The Southwestern College Art Gallery presents "Big and Bright: New Work from Texas", curated by Jessica McCambly . With the title taken from the song, “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, this exhibition is a regional survey that highlights the diverse range of work being created in Texas today. Despite the massive size of the state of Texas, there is a close community that exists amongst the artists who live and work across the state. They know each other.. or of each other.. and are usually fans of each other. The strength of this community of artists and the scene that they contribute to seems to defy the obvious geography that physically isolates them from the LA/NY art centers. With the presence of strong academic programs along with the support of regional cultural institutions, artist-run spaces, commercial galleries and virtual, cultural outlets that bridge the distance, these artists work and interact within unique and fertile conditions. This, along with the prevailing ethos, results in a vibrant and important art scene filled with complex and distinct work that stretches across Texas.  

  

Featuring work by: 

John Adelman * Susan Barnett * Iris Bechtol * Christine Bisetto * Paul Booker * Matthew Bourbon * Candace Briceno * Jim Burton * Rodolfo Choperena * Matt Clark * Shelby Cunningham * C.J. Davis * Eric Eley * Vincent Falsetta * Thomas Feulmer * Garland Fielder * Anna Fritzel-Shows * John Frost * Lily Hanson * Stephen Lapthisophon * Annette Lawrence * Dameon Lester * M * Margaret Meehan * Renee Nunez * Kim Cadmus Owens * Harmony Padgett * John Pomara * Ryder Richards * Rusty Scruby * Noah Simblist * Charlotte Smith * Terri Thornton * David Willburn * Sarah WIlliams

 

Curated by:

Jessica McCambly A graduate of the University of North Texas, College of Visual Arts and Design and former Texas artist, Curator Jessica McCambly is an artist currently living and working in San Diego, California. She also serves as Assistant Professor of Art at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, California.   

September Dallas Fall Gallery Walk

Ray-Mel Cornelius, Robert Browning, acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12", 2011

We saw several new galleries open in Dallas this year, and a number of these opened just in time to introduce themselves at the opening of the Fall art season.  A couple of galleries began the season by exhibiting a sample of works by each of the gallery's represented artists.  A number of other galleries in town focused on solo shows of one or two of their own artists, and I noticed that these shows often featured some of North Texas' favorites.  I saw many red dots as I traveled around to the galleries, so I hope to be able to see some of these fantastic works in friends' homes or businesses soon!

Ray-Mel Cornelius, Charles Baudelaire, acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14", 2011

These first two pics are from Ray-Mel Cornelius' solo exhibition, "Poets and Cattle", at  

Norwood Flynn Gallery.  A bit of poetry to accompany the art as we begin this journey.

 Jay Maggio, Flaming Bradfords II, oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

Jay Maggio, Pink Seduction, oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

Craighead Green Gallery featured three solo exhibitions by Arturo Mallman, Jay Maggio, and Heather Gorham. CG Gallery is one of the largest white wall gallery spaces I have seen.  They have ample space for four large scale separate exhibitions.  I've cropped out the frames from Maggio's paintings.  They were all very nice and uniform in black wood.  But it is his varying mark making techniques and the vibrant colors that attract my attention.

 Heather Gorham, Awash in the Everyday, 14" x 6" x , bronze, resin, mixed media assemblage

Heather Gorham, The Private Life of a Hare, 15" x 17" x 9", printed resin, urethane paint

Heather Gorham, Flowering Lamb of Odd, 19" x 17" x 17", printed resin, urethane paint

Heather presented us with a plethora of sculptures and paintings which fit easily in the front gallery space at Craighead Green Gallery.

Otis Jones, Two White Slits on Red, mixed media on canvas, 30" x 30" x 4", 2011

Otis Jones, Black Rectangle with Four Red Rectangles, mixed media on canvas,
80" x 36" x 4", 2011

Holly Johnson Gallery opened the season with local favorite Otis Jones.  Jones continues his investigation in the abstract with these minimalist objects. Dan Pritchett has written a review of this exhibition which has been published in the October issue of Arts+Culture Magazine DFW.

Kirk Hays, Counting to Ten (The Artist Playing Hide and Seek with His Innocence and His Granddaughter),
oil and spray enamel on signboard, 45" x 40", 2011

Kirk Hays, Deluge Groin High, oil and spray enamel on signboard, 35" x 36", 2011

Conduit Gallery presented three solo exhibitions in their large gallery.  Guy Mendes, Kirk Hays, and Sandra Ono in the Project Room. Hays' trompe-l'oeil paintings appear to be collage on a wood grain surface, but they are actually paint on board.  Even standing directly in front of them they look like collage, lots of hard work to achieve this allusion.

Paul Manes, (no title listed), oil on canvas, 30" x 28", 2011 

Isabelle du Toit, Cardinal Fledgling, oil on canvas, 12" x 12", 2011

I stopped back by Cris Worley Fine Art to view Charlotte Smith's show which I wrote about and posted on September 10. I stepped into CWFA's "small gallery" and found these two paintings pictured above.  Most galleries hang some small works in their restroom, and I have at least six in both of my bathrooms at home.  It's a great use of space, and I often look at some art in gallery wash rooms longer than the paintings out on the large white walls.

Linda Dee Guy, Re-Orient No. 7, mixed media wall installation, dimensions variable, 2011

Linda Dee Guy solo exhibtion installation view
works shown from left to right:
System No. 4, mixed media drawing on Yupo paper, 42" x 60", 2008
System No. 12, mixed media, 50" x 120", 2010
Translucent Cells, mixed media, 50" x 60", 2011
System No, 1, graphite on Yupo paper, 50" x 35", 2007

a view of Translucent Cells prior to wall installation

Ro2 Art Uptown had a gallery artists group exhibition up for the beginning of September, then installed a solo exhibition starting September 24 with works by Ft Worth artist Linda Dee Guy.  I included the pre-installation pic of Translucent Cells to show how this piece might look if installed in a window.  Guy stated that she had originally planned this piece to hang in a window in an upper floor loft.  This work is truly beautiful with light glowing from behind.  The Dallas Observer has published a fine review of this exhibition.  Ro2 Art's Downtown space has hosted a solo exhibition by another Ft. Worth artist, Christoph Blay.

At least four new galleries opened in Dallas just prior to the start of the Fall art season.  I have yet to visit The Reading Room or Oliver Francis Gallery. I did stop by Smoke and Mirrors Gallery as they were setting up for the first show.

Chuck and George, La Douche, mixed media on panel

Leslie Marshall, Walking Green

Smoke and Mirrors Gallery is a new alternative gallery space that focuses on local outsider art.  Chuck and George are a local couple that paint collaboratively under this nom de plume.  They work individually as Brian Scott and Brian Keith Jones.  I have one of each of their individual works in my collection.

The fourth new gallery, and the final set I will show in this blog post, is only slightly new to the art scene.  Dunn and Brown Contemporary had been in operation in Dallas for about 10 years.  I enjoyed seeing the programming Dunn and Brown exhibited locally as well as at Scope London, Scope Miami, and Art Miami over the years.  Brown left the gallery this summer to offer private art consultation services.  Tally Dunn renamed the gallery Tally Dunn Gallery, made a few changes to the programming, and opened with a gallery artists group exhibition on September 10.  Here are some works by artists that I admire and caught my eye on the day that I visited:

Erick Swenson, Muncie Head, plastic and acrylic paint, 14" x 10.5" x 10", 2001, edition of 7

Joseph Havel, Throwing Stars, bronze with patina, 31" x 30.25" x 1.25", 2010

Joseph Havel, Single Star, bronze with patina, 26" x 16" x12", 2007

Susie Rosmarin, Spectrum #11, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 60", 2009

David Bates, Cleaning Table, oil on canvas, 36" x 28", 2010

Linda Ridgway, Somewhere in the twirled branches, and he is singing, bronze unique,
21" x 24" x 18", 2011

Xiaoze Xie, The Parade, ink on rice paper, 42" x 62.25", 2007

Annette Lawrence, from left to right:
Paper Reel #2
Luminous Paper Sphere
Luminous Paper Sphere #2
each are photocopy with acrylic on paper, 26" x 40", 2011

Trenton Doyle Hancock, The Year, suite of five etchings,
etching, silkscreen, and airbrushed watercolor, each 28.25" x 27.5", 2009

Vernon Fisher, Red Mulberry, acrylic on canvas over panel, 44" x 48", 2011

Nic Nicosia, I See Light,
twenty individual images as unique installation,
archival inkjet prints on somerset watercolor paper,
15" x 24" each, 2009

Dale Chihuly

Helen Altman

Ted Kincaid, from left to right:
Open Sea 811
Open Sea 7291
Open Sea 719
Open Sea 720,
each are digital photograph printed on Hahnemuhle photo paper,
24" x 18", each edition of 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 24^th, 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!