The Art of Returning to Work

Alex Schaefer, Chase Wilshire, acrylic on canvas, plein air, 28" x 22", 2011

seen at Charlie James Gallery at the 2012 Dallas Art Fair

My last post was on March 11, 2012, the day before I started my new job.  I've now had a couple of months to traverse the "new job" learning curve and to acclimate to the 3rd shift hours - 11:30p to 8:00a, Sunday through Thursday.  I am still finding my way through to manage to make it to art openings on Saturday nights or at least visit art galleries after they open at 11:00a on Tuesdays through Saturdays.  But yes, I have seen quite a few art shows, as well as taken many pictures, since I started the job - I just haven't been in a frame of mind to blog about it.  Hopefully, I will break the writer's block soon and find my voice again.  This is a start. 

 

While I was off work for a year and a half I spent a great deal of time on the pc and, of course, on the internet.  It was the way I was accustomed to working when I had a job.  It was also necessary to search for jobs, submit resumes, and network with former coworkers, friends, and potential new employers.  I also read a great deal of news, and the Occupy Wall Street movement caught my attention when they burst onto the scene. The stories about plein air painter, Alex Schaefer, especially interested me. He stands across the street from Chase retail branches in cities across the U.S. and paints them, but then he adds his own imagined image of fire as if the buildings are engulfed in flames. His paintings are in protest of the damage the "too big to fail" banks have ravaged on the U.S. economy since the recession began in 2008. He focuses on Chase Bank, and he has been arrested on several occasions as he stands and paints on the sidewalk.  Interestingly, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has been back in the news since before last weekend due to a recent $2 billion derivatives trading loss. I applaud the OWS movement for exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.  It has been a disappointment, though, to see that the movement is actually not well organized and most participants have no idea what they are actually protesting.

 

I don't miss the stress of the job I had at J.P. Morgan.  I can imagine that the team I once managed has been quite busy these past few months researching and readjusting the invoices directly and remotely associated with those ill faded derivatives trades.  My new job is with another major U.S. banking firm that is in competition with the retail business of Chase Bank. However, I now am able to exercise a bit more creativity in my daily job tasks as an individual contributor on the graveyard shift.  This is also a strict eight hour a day job. So I should have more time to pursue my interests in art and this blog. Though, unfortunately,  I won't have the income to pursue continued purchasing of art, at least in the short term future.  I am realigning my career and investment goals so that I am aiming to return to a higher paying job in the mid-range term.  After attending to several financial obligations, I did use a small percentage of recently liquidated investments to do my part to stimulate the local art economy:

Ryder Richards, Spread Pattern, 2010, gold leaf, graphite, gunpowder on paper, 10" x 7"

 Terry Hays, Yellow Box with Miro Head - Woman in Front of the Sun, 7.75" x 4.5" x 3.75", mixed media, 2012

I grew attached to both of each of these works by artists Ryder Richards and Terry Hays while I interned at Ro2 Art.  These will remind me of the moments of time that I did actually enjoy during my time of unemployment.  I am hoping to intern at Ro2 Art again in the near future.  They consistently have had exciting art events and they receive much well deserved local media press. Both of these artists are just as energetic as the gallery itself, and I am excited to have these small representations of each of their overall oeuvres.

 Helen Altman, Shell Wren, wire and beehive shells, 4" x 6" x 5.5", 2012

 Forrest Middelton, Lidded Vessel, high fire reduction, wheel thrown and altered,11" x 6.5" x 6.5"

The Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Pottery Invitational both occurred the same weekend, April 13 -15.  Rusty and I have wanted one of Helen Altman's bird sculptures for many years.  I saw this one at the Tally Dunn Gallery at the fair and knew that this time I had to have it. They told me that Altman only makes these little bird sculptures when she obtains an object that she finds special and worthy to be saved in this manner. I had the opportunity to listen while Forrest Middelton explained his Volumetric Image Transfer process to a group of admiring women at the invitational. This is the first piece of Middelton's that I have acquired.  I fell in love with his work while helping Ro2 Art curate the Defined Form/Refind Function exhibition. I also added additional ceramic works by Amy Halko and Brenda Lichman to my growing collection of each of their works, and it was great to visit with each of them at the invitational. 

I may post my recollections of the Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Pottery Invitational.  I am about to go out for the day and explore this years' Oak Cliff Visual Speed Bump Art Studio Tour. Also coming up very soon, Rusty has a solo show at McMurtrey Gallery in Houston on June 2, and a two person show at Turner Carroll Gallery in Santa Fe on June 15.  So I will have these and many other artists and art events that I hope to blog about soon.

"timesteps" Debra Barrera and Norberto Gomez, Jr. at Lawndale Art Center

This was my first visit to the Lawndale Art Center. I have heard so much about the Center through the years as friends have had shows there and via coverage on Glasstire. I really enjoyed experiencing the large well lit galleries and the outdoor lawn exhibition space. I saw four of the exhibitions on view that day, and I truly appreciate the printed brochures that accompanied each exhibit.  

Naturally, I had a biased motive for arriving at the Center to see Debra Barrera's work.  However, I had never seen her work before this day, and was, therefore, pleasantly relieved to find that her work appeals to my collecting aesthetics.  Don't get me wrong, the work by the other artists in the other galleries was all top-notch and well curated in their respective spaces.  But I adore well crafted drawings and sculptures, and Barrera's work fits that sensibility. I am also attracted to relationships between people and seeing what makes them tick, and this two-person exhibition embodies this.

foreground: Debra Barrera's Timesteps (for Wendy Carlos), plexiglass, Moog synthesizer, resin, graphite, water, 48" x 24" x 18", 2011

background, blue reflection on Timesteps: Norberto Gomez, Jr.'s Buddy's, looped video projection, 2011

From the Lawdale Art Center's website I learned this about the exhibition:

Debra Barrera and Norberto Gomez, Jr. participate with the viewer in
opposite formats to create a convergence of ideas that are rooted in
the investigation of manipulating the passage of time through their
respective mediums and influences. Norberto Gomez Jr. critiques and
reveres his friendships and acquaintances through time-based mediums
by utilizing chat rooms, film, and drawings. Interactive exhibits and
projected film will replicate for the viewer a sense of
acquaintanceship with Norberto himself in real time. Debra Barrera
turns toward time based mediums like the Hollywood film, music, and
performance to influence her sculptures and drawings. Although
seemingly timeless in their appearance, Debra investigates how static
objects can be imbued with the essence of the passage of time.

Gomez was born in Alice, TX. He is currently living, working and attending Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA as a PhD student in Media Art & Text. Barrera was born in Corpus Christi, TX and currently lives in Houston where she works at McMurtrey Gallery. 

I had not been to the opening reception nor did I attend an artist talk, so I sent Barrera a few questions via email:

Hampton's Court: What is the relationship between you and Norberto?

Barrera: Norby and I got our master's in painting together at UofH and the overarching theme for the show was about time based mediums and how we each would deal with the issue in our work.

HC: What is the intended dialogue you two have set up between your works, if any?

B: Like I said above we were interested in time based mediums and how to respond to them. Norby took a more personal approach and dealt with it by revisiting personal memories of favorite films and hangouts (The looping video Buddy's was a hometown bar). I dealt with time based issues by revolving the show around American and British film and books. My major influences were Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and J.D. Salinger. Every piece has something attached to it (usually found in the titles)

 Norberto Gomez, Jr.'s Buddy's, looped video projection, 2011

Gomez, an apology, ink on graphing paper, 2011 

Gomez, Cannibalism in 46 Movements (After-Baxandall part 3), ink on graphing paper, 2011

Gomez, savage rite, three-channel television set up with Cannibal Boom Is This Holocaust soundtrack, 2011

Hampton's Court: Your <website> pics of Timesteps (for Wndy Carlos) show a lid on the plexi vitrine. Yet when we visited the lid was absent and the sides were bowed out from the weight of the water. That left us with a queasy unstable feeling, and I'm wondering if that was an intended emotional reaction to the work or not?

Barrera:  I'm glad that there was an emotional reaction but sadly none of this was intended. I originally wanted the water to remain in the plexiglas with little interference, alas gravity made this impossible. Yet, looking on it all now, I welcome what happened with the piece, it is truly the only time-based piece in the show from my part of the exhibition and I did intend for the work to be a bit sad, more akin to a memorial than any other piece in the show.

Physics aside, I'd say the piece works due to the illusion of the double imagery caused by the refraction of the water.  Also, given the overall professionalism evident in the Lawndale Art Center, I was not too worried about a watery accident occurring while I was there.  It was Barrera's fine drawings that quickly drew my attention away, though.

 A Night to Remember, graphite on paper, 2011

Bonnie Blue Butler, graphite on paper, 2011

Game Show Microphone, graphite on paper, 2011

On Days Like These, Lamborghini Miura, graphite on paper, 2011

While Gomez's drawings are immediate and work in conjunction with his text, Barrera's drawings reveal time intensive marks employing painterly techniques of light and shadowing. She focuses on a lyric, a passage, or a frame and presents us with a distillation of the original story.

Snow White, polyester resin, Valium, pure pigment, cultured pearl necklace, ink, 2011

Sleeping Beauty, liquid silicone, needles, thread, 2011

Patriotic colors that caused me to consider American ideals of beauty.

Les and Bessie, vintage glasses, epoxy resin, pure pigment, ink, 2011

Seymour, vintage glass, epoxy resin, pure pigment, ink, crushed spotlight glass, 2011

Zooey, vintage cobalt glass, epoxy resin, Yves St. Laurent mascara wand, glitter, 2011

In much the same way Barrera distills time in her drawings, she captures pure moments of lusciousness in her sculptures.  Pigments, needles, bits of glass and glitter are caught in layers of resin forever trapped in space and time for us to consider ourselves and our relationships with others.

This exhibition will be on view at the Lawndale Art Center through January 7, 2012.

Rusty Scruby's Works at McMurtrey Gallery's "Holiday Exhibition 2011"

The Ninth King and Realm of Eight

both are playing card constructions, 2011

McMurtrey Gallery generously forwarded these pics of Rusty's works installed in the gallery for this past Saturday night's opening reception. These are the two works that we delivered to the gallery last week that I mentioned in my previous post about Art Palace.  Here are two more installation shots:

pictured to the left: Lance Letscher Atom Smasher and The Ninth Kitchen

both are collage on masonite, 2011

pictured to the right: Sydney Yeager Traces, oil on canvas, 2011

Rusty has given me permission to use these photos that he took of The Ninth King and Realm of Eight in his studio prior to delivery:

the backside/inside of Realm of Eight.  This work was created using Eights of Clubs and Spades.  A ring of black Gatorfoam board has been attached to give the piece added rigidity and to provide a means to hang the work on L pins.

the backside and inside of The Ninth King. A ring of Gatorfoam board has been attached to the bottom for hanging purposes as noted above, as well as a ring inside the "crown" to give stability to the work as it hangs horizontally from the wall.

a side view of The Ninth King as it hangs in Rusty's studio with one of his earlier framed print on Mi Teintes paper works in the background.  The Ninth King was created using red playing cards Nine of Diamonds and Hearts and one band of blue playing cards using King of Hearts.

While creating the "neck" of the open-ended vessel that is The Ninth King, Rusty created a tangential series of works that he has named Playing Card Flowers.  Rusty submitted one of these to The McKinney Avenue Contemporary for their 16th annual Blue Yule Holiday Party.

three Playing Card Flowers

Rusty found other uses for these works as well as enjoying as small sculptures:

Four Houston Gallery Shows for Oct-Nov

Genius-Loci-Villa, 70" x 70" x 8"

McMurtrey Gallery presents a solo exhibition of Texas artist Beverly Penn.  Penn casts from local flowers and plants to create lush bronze sculptures that reflect the Texas landscape.

detail

Twin,70" x 70" x 6"

Several of Penn's sculptures span almost 9 feet and feel almost as big as Texas itself. Penn recently had a solo exhibition at the Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas.

McMurtrey recently converted the former frame gallery into a new 'micro space' gallery.  Jean Wetta's oil paintings were on exhibit.

New York, New York, oil on multi-media board, 11" x 28" x 1"

Light on the Far Field, oil on multi-media board, 11" x 28" x 1" 

 

There were five of these lush little Jean Wetta paintings in the mircro space.

Sarah Williams, La Plata Winter, oil on canvas, 12" x 12", 2011

McMurtrey had this little Sarah Williams painting up in the back room.  I love the way she captures light in night time landscapes.  Williams currently has a solo exhibition up at the Galveston Art Center that I wish I had the time to run down to see.  Both Beverly Penn and Jean Wetta's exhibits are up through November 23.

I stopped in at John Cleary Gallery to see the Susan Burnstine photographs.  I didn't take pictures because a) I don't like to photograph photography for the possible copyright infringements, and b) the glass on the frames usually makes it too difficult anyway.  These are lovely atmospheric black and white photos of city scenes in New York and Chicago.  The black and white photography and the effects blur our vision creating dreamlike images.  Many of the photos were shot so that the horizon line is very low leaving us with the jagged edge of the top of the skyline verging on disquieting cloudscapes. This exhibition is up through November 26.

Kari Russell-Pool and Marc Petrovic, Banded Vessel Series - Flower Diatom, blown glass and lampwork, 17" x 10.5" 

Kari Russell-Pool, Tea Party, lampwork glass, 8" x 15" x 7.5"

Kari Russell-Pool, Aromatic Amphora #3, lampwork glass

Hooks-Epstein Gallery is currently exhibiting assemblage works by Ward Sanders through November 23.  In the back room of the gallery I found these three blown and lampwork glass vessels created by Kari Russell-Pool.  I could find no other information on Russell-Pool other than she lives and works in Connecticut and she also shows at a glass gallery in Nantucket, Ma.

Goldesberry Gallery presents works by Holly Wilson through November 26. 

Holly Wilson, Almost There, bronze, wood, sterling silver

Holly Wilson, On a Limb, bronze, wood, sterling silver

Wilson casts the birds on these sculptures from silver to represent the precious aspect of burdens in our lives, or as Wilson explains "birdens".

Goldesberry also represents a large group of ceramic artists.  I don't find many galleries in the south and southeastern US states that exhibit fine crafts such as ceramics, glass, or wood like I have found in many galleries in the northwestern states.

Diana Kersey, Platypus Jar, ceramic

This vessel caught my eye in the backroom ceramics gallery at Goldesberry.  Diana Kersey lives and works in San Antonio, but I see that she received her MFA in ceramics at Washington State University.

Susan Giller, Standing Raku Cats, raku ceramics

I recognized Susan Giller's raku cats almost immediately even though they were standing on a lower shelf.  I visited Giller's studio a few weeks ago along the White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour and she had a few of these sculptures out.

drawings, sketches, and sculptures in Giller's studio - notice the raku cats at bottom right

Heather Gorham on the left also visiting the studio of Susan Giller who is dressed in black to the right of Heather.