"Meltdown" 2011 Annual MAC Membership Exhibition - Aug 6 - Sep 3

Put on my walking shoes, set my mindset to "art fair" mode, and started looking at 184 diverse works of art with barely any white wall space in between.  "Art fair" mode because I have to be ready to visually edit very quickly if I plan to see it all and make my picks.  You know the drill with these summer member shows - pay the dues and you get to play - and who knows who will see your art.  So everyone from art hobbyists to gallery artists, art students to art professors - some with PhD's join the fray, and we the viewers get to see a broad sample of art being made and taught in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex.

It is always a little strange to me to give artists a theme to work toward. But it does help to set up a loose non-curated frame work for the participants and viewers alike.  So my picks for this blog post are those works that more or less successfully met the theme.  "Meltdown" plays well for those mediums that literally melt at some point during the process - glass, ceramics, metallurgy, plastics, and encaustic.  But there are also the images and/or concepts that involve some level of psychological meltdown - homages to deceased loved ones as well as to pop icons that suffered meltdowns such as Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison and James Dean.  And of course, there are always the works that don't even try to meet the theme.  They are artists, after all, marching to their own drummers!  WARNING - I've chosen 33 out of 184!

There is no jury. No Best of Show. No winners and no losers.  All very democratic really.

But here, anyway, is Hampton's Court pick for Best of Show:

Duke Horn, Mighty Fine Arts, oil paint

a demonic Uncle Sam leading a circus government while the world burns behind him.

 There is always a plethora of distracting frames in this exhibit, but I think Horn's frame completes the gaudy  psycho meltdown perfectly.

CERAMICS, GLASS, METALLURGY, and ENCAUSTIC

 Ryder Richards, Portales: Isolation, goldleaf, gunpowder, graphite on paper

 VET, House on Fire, encaustic

 Michael Christopher, Melted Miro, plasma etched screen metal

 Morton Rachofsky, Untitled, plastic

 Julia Ousley, Flying Pig Meltdown, bronze

 Kenny Hensley, The Trinity River Meltdown, glazed cast porcelain

 Val Curry, Playnado, polyester, wood, toys, computers, acyrlic & resin

 Brooks Oliver, Vortex Bowl, porcelain

 Jim Brightwell, What Was Sharp and Explicit, glass

 Gregory Nelsen, Paranoia, stoneware

 Peggy Epner, Ring of Fire, encaustic on panel

Jackie MacLelland, Phd, On the Edge, encaustic

IMAGES AND CONCEPTS OF MELTDOWNS

 Cabe Booth, Warhol, acrylic and oil on distressed wood

 Hadar Sobol, Myself Inside Myself, thread on vintage linen

 Terry Hays, And Then There was an Explosion, acrylic on Sintra

 Norman Kary, Broken Dreams, mixed media

 Alisa Levy, Losing my Religion, photograph

 Chris Bergquist Fulmer, Cowboy Meltdown: Prelude to the Fall, mixed media

 Margaret Rattelle, Head, etching spitbite drypoint

Michelle de Metz, Meltdown in Texas, mixed media on wood

Mark McGahan, Meltdown, digital print

 Sibylle Bauer, Reflections, photograph

 

Kathy Robinson-Hays, Receding, ink, acrylic and paper on Duralar

 detail of Receding

Anna Palmer, Ooze, digital photography

 Joe Ing, Scissors, print

detail of Scissors

BEYOND THE THEME

Jason Reynaga, It's a Little Bit Fuzzy, mixed media

David Dreyer, In To Down, oil on laminated birch plywood

 Fannie Brito, Mullenian Ducts, pigments & acrylic on canvas

Sheila Cunningham, Once, assemblage

Michael O'Keefe, Untitled, 2011 (Drill Drawing Series II), graphite on Yupo

Ann S. Adams, Swizzle, pastel

Ann Adams' work at least makes me feel like bathing in her cool pastel waters after all the heat and melting.  I understand the a/c went out in the main galleries just a few minutes after the reception opened on August 6.  It was an unplanned 'meltdown happening'. Lots of hot bodies in a hot space on a 100F+ night in Dallas.  Glad I couldn't find parking, because the a/c had just gone out in my truck the day before also.  I had it fixed on the following Monday. 

One final meltdown note.  On the day I stopped by to see the exhibit and I captured images of about 78 works before I edited down to these 33, I witnessed another 'meltdown happening'.  I know the opening night meltdown performance staged by the a/c was unplanned, and I suspect the one I witnessed may have been also.  But that's the thing about art happenings, the spontaneity is the art, right?  So I see this one sculpture with water all around it on the floor.  Looked like a hazard.  Then this guy, I presume the artist, came in and started mopping up and replacing the bucket:

Scott Sura, Tree of Strife, mixed media

I went to the MAC the next night for an unrelated poetry reading and book signing.  I noticed there was water on the floor around this sculpture again.  So perhaps it really is a performance piece.  Tree of Strife, indeed!

Stay cool out there my friends!

4 More Images from Nasher Sculpture Center

Looking up through the sunscreen at the museum without a roof.

Roy Lichtenstein, Double Glass, 1979

Antony Gormley, Quantum Cloud XX (tornado), 2000

Naum Gabo, Constructed Head No. 2, 1916 (enlargement, 1975)

A Visit to the Nasher Sculpture Center

Saturday was Target First Saturday at the Nasher Sculpture Center which meant free admission.  The Center opened at 10:00 am, so we headed over hoping to beat the crowd.  The temperature was already headed for triple digit heat, but that didn't stop people from coming out and enjoying the sculpture.

Aaron Curry, Big Pink, 2010

Aaron Curry's Big Pink greets visitors at the entrance to the Center.  This is one of the ten sculptures from the Statuesque exhibition that runs through August 21. Statuesque has been organized by the Public Art Fund's chief curator Nicholas Baume, and was previously on view at the Lower Manhattan City Hall Park before traveling to Dallas.  These works are presented at the Nasher in context with works from the Center's collection, so my pictures and text are presented as a combination of my favorites from both groups of work.

Aaron Curry, Yellow Bird Boy, 2010

Another of the Statuesque sculptures, this one on the rear veranda of the Center overlooking the garden.

George Segal, Rush Hour, 1983, cast 1985 - 86

This Segal is part of the Nasher collection.  Other people seem to enjoy  posing for photos by standing behind or next to the sculpture as if they are part of the scene.  The number of figures in the sculpture somewhat represent the number of people one would find walking the sidewalks in downtown Dallas at rush hour, but Dallasites would never walk this close together unless they knew each other well.  But Segal may have never visited Dallas.

Thomas Houseago, Untitled (Lumpy Figure), 2009

This is one of the Statuesque sculptures.  Untitled seems to be trying to catch up and join the figures in Rush Hour.

Alexander Calder, Three Bollards, 1970

The Nasher's outdoor Calder sculpture seems to be soaking up the cooling shade of the oak trees that create a cathedral ceiling above.

Henry Moore, Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae, 1968

Rusty studying one of the Nasher's Henry Moore sculptures.

Joan Miro, Caress of a Bird (La Caresse d'un oiseau), 1967

This Miro is part of the Nasher collection and it is nestled at the back of the garden under crepe myrtle trees.  The colors on this painted bronze really pop in the shade.

 Pawal Althamer and the Nowolipie Group, Sylvvia, 2010

detail of Sylvvia

Sylvvia is part of the Statuesque exhibit.  I did not notice many people stopping to take in this sculpture.  Perhaps it is too sensual for Dallasites on a hot sultry morning.  But she seems to be relishing reclining in the shade in the damp recently watered grass.  There are little figures in her hair lounging as if at the beach.  Pools of water in her hair create an even more alluring scene of respite.  I wonder if the water evaporated as the air heated up to 106F a few hours later.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Bronze Crowd, 1990 - 91

Part of the Nasher collection, Abakanowicz's sculptures feel lonely, forlorn, waiting for a revolution. This crowd scene does feel more like Dallas, though, with plenty of breathing space between the figures.  It's hot here, don't touch me.  The Federal Reserve Bank building rises in the middle background a few blocks away.

Richard Serra, My Curves Are Not Mad, 1987

Serra's sculpture sat at the Ross Street entrance of the Dallas Museum of Art next door for years before the Nasher Sculpture Center opened.  I miss seeing it at the DMA and there are still two curved rust lines on the pavement where this used to reside.  But it definitely works here. It feels like it is floating weightlessly on the lawn.

Mark Di Suvero, Eviva Amore, 2001

Part of the Nasher collection, this Di Suvero is like a giant dragonfly come to rest on the garden lawn.  The Nasher is being surrounded by modern sky scrapers.  Eviva Amore almost feels like a toy left behind by one of the steel i-beam and concrete sky scrapers.

Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman (Tete de femme), 1958

In a similar way, this Picasso also feels so at home with the sky scrapers gazing down upon her gravel and concrete composition.

Soon, residents of Museum Tower will be gazing down upon this oasis in the city. If they are not able to actually see the sculptures from their lofty nests, at least they'll see the tree tops.

Kirk Hopper Fine Art: SEX/TWIST

David Van Ness "Caribou Conflict" 2010

The image above is my favorite work in this exhibition.  Van Ness' choice of color reminds me of my favorite Matchbox toy car, Rolls Royce, from my childhood.  I still have it stored in an official Matchbox collection carrying case. PaperCity also chose Van Ness' image for their print and on-line July arts update.  My image above was taken the night of the opening reception.  The pictures below were taken a week later when I went back to take a better look at the show.

The new director, Liliana Bloch, came out and spoke to me in the gallery and conveyed her ideas regarding her inaugural KHFA curatorial effort.  Sex/Twist is a conceptual exhibition exploring the repercussions of living in an era still defined by Victorian mores.  I can understand this as nudes in art seem so much more 'naked' to me when I see them presented (though rarely) in Dallas as opposed to when I view similar art in any other less prudish city.  This work has the viewer examine ideas of repression, secrecy, hypocrisy, dogma and control.  Heady stuff for a hot Dallas afternoon.

Van Ness' sculpture seen above depicts the male deer's endless struggle for dominance of the females, sometimes leading to the death of the loser.  Allegoric to our own human struggle for dominance.

Bill Haveron

Haveron's graphite drawings are derived from personal events and symbolism that has captivated him.  In the bottom drawing we witness police having their way with a young women while men of the cloth stand by and either watch or wait their turn.

Daniela Comani

Comani presents two sets of works in this exhibition.  In the images above, we see her explore the supposed marital bliss of the heterosexual marriage.  The couple look oddly alike, as long term couples often do.  Accompanying these works were FAQ's questions regarding this project written on the wall in pencil such as: "Is he really your husband", "Is he your brother", "Are you twins", and "You look so similar.  Have you been together for a long time"  Comani's other project is presented in the pics below.  These display reversed sex roles that follow the history of western literature:

Daniela Comani

Bryan Florentin takes the uncomfortable concept one step further by breaking gallery taboo and actually inviting the viewers to touch his art.  He presents six small installations, three sets on two opposing walls in the gallery.  Each of the sets consist of either three or four individual framed prints 'stacked' on each other as they lean on the wall.  The viewer must pull each frame forward to view the pieces hidden behind.

Bryan Florentin "Archive E"

I moved to the other side of the gallery to capture these images of one of the other three installations. Notice the scuff marks on the wall above the third framed print.  I couldn't avoid the reflection in the glass:

Bryan Florentin

I know my own prudishness was at work while I viewed these.  I mean, it's one thing to enjoy more graphic jpegs in the privacy of ones own home for personal enjoyment, but it's another all together to view censored and edited prints presented in a gallery setting.  And it was 100+ degrees Fahrenheit outside.  I went home to take a cold shower to wash away the sweat and conceptual repression.  Obviously, Bloch's curated exhibition had the intended effect on me.

Jane Chafin's Offramp Gallery Blog - MFA: Is it Necessary? --- The Debate

MFA: Is it Necessary? -- The Debate

This is an informative and timely article.  I saw Paul Klein share this article from Huffington Post about an hour ago on facebook.  It is timely because Rusty and I just had lunch with Quin Mathews and we were discussing the sometimes tedious nature (at least to me) of academic conceptual art.  Jane's words would have been perfect for our conversation, "We're teaching artists to TALK about art. Anything is art as long as you can justify it using the codified language of academia. As my friend Ted says, there's no good art, no bad art, just an endless dialog about art." I also agree with her earlier statement, "It's supposed to be VISUAL art, after all."

Personally, I want to 'get' the art on my own without having to read a novel about the concept the artist was trying to achieve first.  I appreciate the text museums provide to give viewers a sense of the time period in which a work was made and how the contemporaneous events of the artist's life influenced the work.  For example, when I view William Kentridge's work I can immediately see that many works address apartheid.  Accompanying text helps me to round out that understanding by learning that he had several lawyers in his family that took on civil rights cases against apartheid.  But that information and overarching concept is not necessary for me to appreciate the beauty of his drawings of typewriters or other desk objects, or short films that seem to take us into space through constellations of his own imagination.

My very dear friend, James Watral, retired from teaching this month.  James earned his masters at Tulane in New Orleans and his bachelor at Cleveland Institute of Art.  He taught for many years in DFW area universities before I met him thirteen years ago.  However, he had been a full time studio potter for several years when I met him.  He went back to teaching ten years ago, and has now retired prior to his 69th birthday.  He made an interesting statement a couple of weeks ago as we were out running errands together.  James said that galleries started to pay more attention to him when he stopped teaching because they recognized that he was then dedicated to making art.

'Next' Juried Exhibit Galleri Urbane

Jason Willaford

Galleri Urbane hosted their first annual juried exhibition that opened July 9th.  The participants are:

Sara Frantz, Shawn Hall,
Claire Houghton, Keirston Jacobs
Best of Show- Forrest Solis
Alison Jardine, Johan Manschot
Ricardo Paniagua
Souvankham Thammavongsa
Marion Wesson

Here are a few images I captured of the works:

 Ricardo Paniagua, as featured on my blog a few weeks ago

one of his new sculptures is also in this exhibit; however my photo does it no justice.

 

Alison Jardine

 this is my favorite new discovery from this show

Best of Show- Forrest Solis